Carling Cup – Match Review: Sunderland versus West Ham United
Sunderland and West Ham met each other in the Carling Cup’s third round of matches as both the English Premier League teams looked to qualify for the next stage of the competition. Sunderland, who are also known more affectionately
as the Black Cats, fielded a pretty strong first team squad for the match; something that was certainly not expected by their fans.
Steve Bruce, the Sunderland manager, started with Asamoah Gyan, Darren Bent and Daniel Welbeck in his starting lineup. These strikers were complimented by the inclusion of Christian Riveros, Jordan Henderson and Ahmad El Mohamadi
in Sunderland’s central midfield. The former Manchester United left winger, Kieran Richardson also started for the Black cats at the left back spot whereas Nedum Onuoha and Anton Ferdinand took up their usual berths in the centre of Sunderland’s defence. Phillip
Bardsley, another ex-Manchester United player, was deployed at right back for Sunderland while Simon Mignolet made a start in between the goal posts for Sunderland.
Conversely, West Ham started with a 4-4-2 with two strikers up front as Avram Grant chose Radoslav Kovac and Frederic Piquionne as his two front men. Behind them, West Ham’s midfield four was made up of the likes of Victor Obinna,
Luis Boa Morte, Scott Parker and the Mexican winger, Pablo Barrera. In defence for the Hammers, Julien Faubert and Da Costa started as full backs alongside Tal Ben Haim and James Tomkins in central defence.
At the start of the match, West Ham were easily the better side as they had much more of the ball and regularly forced their way forward. In the very first minute of the encounter, the Hammers were awarded their first corner of
the match. The set piece however was not executed properly and the opportunity was wasted by the London club. West Ham’s most threatening player in the first half was Victor Obinna; the winger troubled Sunderland’s defence whenever he had the opportunity and
was not shy of trying his luck on goal either as he had two shots in quick succession within the first 10 minutes of the half.
The Black Cats soon paid for their lax defending as in the 35thminute of the match, Obinna set off on a mazy run down the left hand side and after reaching the by-line he pulled the ball back for Frederic Piquionne,
who was unmarked inside the Sunderland penalty area. The Frenchman finished off the chance well by slotting the ball into the right hand bottom corner of Mignolet’s goal. The ex-Lyon man’s strike gave West Ham a well deserved lead.
The goal brought Sunderland to life and they fought their way back into the match in an effective manner. Five minutes after Piquionne’s opening goal, Sunderland got their equalizer through Asamoah Gyan’s header. Jordan Henderson
crossed the ball from the left side of Sunderland’s attack from inside the West Ham penalty area. The winger’s cross was right on the mark as Gyan sent the ball crashing into the back of the West Ham net to bring his side back on level terms with the London
club. At half-time, it was clearly a stalemate as both the teams were headed for a draw with the score at 1-1.
The second half started with West Ham on top as the Hammers almost got into the lead again with Pablo Barrera’s effort which was followed up by Victor Obinna’s shot on target in the 46th minute of the match. However,
the move came to nothing as Mignolet held onto the ball with the efficiency of a veteran goalkeeper. West Ham did not give up their dominance easily and soon got their lead back as Pablo Barrera combined with Scott Parker to cut the West Ham defence to ribbons.
The Mexican then had the composure to find Obinna with his pass from the right side of the Sunderland penalty area. Obinna was not wasteful with the chance that fell his way and his shot from around 18 yards out gave West Ham United
a 2-1 lead. Sunderland had their best chance of the game in the 63rd minute as Darren Bent found himself in space inside the West Ham penalty box. However the English international striker was unable to find the back of the net with his shot and
Sunderland remained a goal behind.
Sunderland broke forward numerous times in the rest of the second half but failed to find the equalizing goal as West Ham ended up eventual winners by two goals to one. It was a memorable win for the Hammers who have had an abysmal
start to their season. Sunderland on the other hand will not be happy with the result as they were expected to do well in this match and progress to the next round.
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