Wigan 1 West Ham 0

West Ham started with Kovac in for Collison, Gabbidon in for Spector and Hines in for Jimenz. The forced changes seemed to unsettle West Ham a little and Wigan started the brighter. In the first 15 minutes Gomez forced Green to save low down to his left and Diame shot just wide left of the goal after a good break from the back.

In the 17th minute Cole forced a save from Kirkland and after that West Ham started to assert themselves a little more. In the 26th minute Stanislas had a shot bundled behind by Kirkland and from the corner a Cole flicked header was saved by the keeper. In the 32nd minute Hines floated past Boyce and shot at goal, forcing a save from Kirkland.

In the 36th minute Hines charged down a Kirland kick and the keeper was lucky to see the ball bounce off the West Ham player for a goal kick. In the 40th minute Rodallega forced Green to make a good save, and gained a corner for his efforts. From the corner Bramble headed wide.

Seconds after the ref blew for half time Cole nodded the ball over Kirkland and into the net. Life is all about timing!


The first significant action of the second half was unfortunately a Wigan goal. In the 55th minute Green did really well to initially save from Koumas at close range but he could only parry the ball back to Rodallega who then had an easy open goal.

West Ham responded quite well to the goal, forcing a succession of corners. From one of the corners Tomkins missed a sitter with his head from only 6 yrds out. In the 63rd minute Diamanti and Behrami were brought on for Stanislas and Kovac.

Diamanti almost had an immediate impact on the game. His first real involvement was in the 70th minute when his 30 yrd free-kick shot just wide of the post with Kirkland nowhere near. In the 78th minute Diamanti came close again. Diamanti turned a defender, and curled a beautiful shot from outside the area against the far post from a tight angle.

In the 86th minute it was Diamanti again. This time he combined with Cole before crossing for Parker. Parker's flicked header flew just wide of the far post. However despite all Diamanti's efforts West Ham couldn't find the equaliser.


Diamanti definitely a looks find. However I feel West Ham really needed to pick up three points today with two very tough games coming up.