Before the game, one of the televisions in the press room was unplugged because Bolton’s team of match analysts needed the scart lead. It was an easy enough problem to fix. West Ham had a collective screw loose, and that proved somewhat more problematic.
This was always supposed to be a one-sided game, but the surprising thing was the identity of the one side. West Ham had kept four successive clean sheets at home in the league, while Bolton had not scored in their last five away, but the visitors were, in their own way, magnificent. On this evidence, Owen Coyle has not transformed their playing style, rather he seems to have supercharged it. We all know what Bolton do well, but they did it better. Much, much better.
West Ham were two down at half-time, and it could have been four or more. The goals came in the opening 16 minutes, from attacks down the right wing. Both were embarrassingly easy, the second particularly so.
In the 10th minute, Fabrice Muamba challenged Alessandro Diamanti in the centre circle, winning the ball. The Italian fell to the ground, clutching his leg, as play continued via Gretar Steinsson to Lee Chung-Yong. The Korean’s cross from the right curled back towards goal and landed on the head of the onrushing Kevin Davies, six yards out. Diamanti was barely back on his feet by the time the ball hit the back of the net.
Six minutes later, Steinsson chipped the ball down the inside-right channel, James Tomkins attempted to usher it out of play and Davies stole in to poke the ball towards the centre. Had the attack ended there it would have been embarrassing enough. It did not. To their credit, Bolton had two men in the box, gambling on Davies winning the ball. One of them, Tamir Cohen, headed the ball down and the other, Jack Wilshere, volleyed into the net.
It was a humiliating goal to concede, but there could have been more: Johan Elmander was allowed a free header from a long throw, and missed an easy chance in first-half stoppage time. From a Lee cross, Wilshere had a free header; if he had been any taller than 5ft 8in he would surely have scored. All of this before half-time.
Bolton could not keep up that level of intensity, and once Cohen was given a second yellow card with 20 minutes to play, their task became one of containment. West Ham threw on attacking players, but still they could not attack with conviction. With less than two minutes to go, Diamanti picked up a loose ball on the right wing, cut inside and shot inside the far post. He celebrated almost apologetically, as well he might. After a recent improvement, the shadow of relegation hangs over his side once again.
West Ham UnitedBolton WanderersPremier LeagueSimon Burntonguardian.co.uk
