An impressive first-half display by West Ham proved too much for Burnley whose woeful form away from home continues. The result was so emphatic the West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola was able to take off Cartlon Cole at half-time with his team leading 3-0.

It all started when Jack Collison capitalised on some static defending to race on to Scott Parker’s free-kick and fire the Irons ahead on 18 minutes.

Junior Stanislas slotted home a second before Cole converted a penalty as Burnley were made to pay for poor defending after a bright start when Clarke Carlisle’s header was cleared off the line.

The referee Chris Foy felt the wrath of the Upton Park crowd after he called play back for a foul on Parker as Cole was away down the left touchline, before West Ham doubled their lead on 34 minutes. The busy Franco slipped a reverse pass to Junior Stanislas on the right. The England Under-21 winger looked to have missed his opportunity when Brian Jensen made a smart save at his near post only for the Burnley keeper to get his angles wrong from the rebound as Stanislas guided the ball inside the far post.

There was a moment of concern when Cole needed treatment for what looked like a foot injury. The England forward, though, was soon back in the action.

West Ham were then awarded a penalty when Jonathan Spector charged on to Robert Kovac’s pass and into the area before being brought down by Robbie Blake. Cole stepped up to drill in the spot-kick for his seventh goal of the season.

It was no surprise to see Cole, who had just come back from injury, replaced by youngster Zavon Hines for the start of the second half, manager Zola taking no chances with his side well in command.

West Ham continued to knock the ball about freely, but there was – as expected – much more urgency from Burnley.

However, it was game over on 50 minutes when Guillermo Franco made it 4-0. Stanislas whipped a free-kick from the right across the six-yard box, where Franco got in front of the Burnley defenders to head home and wrap up three much-needed points for the Hammers.

Burnley made a double change when Stephen Jordan and Blake were replaced by Christian Kalvenes and David Nugent. The former Preston and Portsmouth striker missed two golden chances in quick succession to pull a goal back for the visitors, which just about summed up their afternoon.

Franco was given a well-deserved rest when Luis Jiménez came on after 60 minutes. Foy awarded another penalty after the on-loan Internazionale winger was brought down by Jensen as he dashed into the penalty area. Jiménez stepped up to take the spot-kick himself, and lashed it into the right corner for his first West Ham goal.

Burnley kept going – and netted what appeared to be a consolation when Fletcher scored at the far post following good work from Eagles on the left after 67 minutes. An unlikely comeback appeared to be on the cards when Fletcher scored again in the 74th minute but West Ham held on despite a Chris Eagles goal deep into injury time giving the game a slightly more respectable scoreline.

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