West Ham United failed to make it out of the relegation zone after they were able to get a single point from their home game against Everton.
The Hammers were full of confidence before the match, following their big win against Fulham on Boxing Day. They did get ahead early when Everton defender, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Tony-Hibbert-c35447, deflected the ball into his own net; Hibbert had been responsible for doing the exact
same thing last season in the same fixture.
Everton, though, were not bobbed down by the own goal, and fought diligently to get on level terms. The away team got the much deserved goal before the half time break as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Tim-Cahill-c35085 found Seamus Coleman with an excellent cross.
In the 2nd half both teams had plenty of chances to get all 3 points, but could not make use of them and the spoils were shared.
Avram, the manager of West Ham will not be too disheartened with a point from the match against Everton, considering that Everton is an inform team and beat the star studded Manchester City in the last game.
The last 3 games for West Ham were believed to be most crucial in terms of their survival this season; Grant would be more than happy to have come away with 5 points from these 3 games. Grant will be hoping that these performances would ensure that the club
owners back him up during the transfer window in January to strengthen the squad.
On the other hand, David Moyes, the manager of Everton was left once again feeling hard done; Moyes believes that his team had a number of chances to win the game but failed to take them. And since the game ended in a draw, Moyes would be asked the question
about his team selection. The manager decided to play Tim Cahill as a 2nd striker, when he had Yakubu, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Louis-Saha-c22459 and Jermaine Beckford on the bench.
Carlton Cole for West Ham got another start due to the 2 goals he knocked in against Fulham. On the other hand, for Everton an injury for http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Phil-Jagielka-c29902 was not welcome news just before the game. The defender had suffered a thigh injury against Manchester
City and failed to recover in time.
Avram Grant, whose job is also in jeopardy if his team fails to maintain their premier league status this season, will be getting his team ready to play against the http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Wolves-c40952. The match is potentially a 6 pointer as both teams are relegation candidates.
As the game kicked off, it was the away team Everton that looked more assured of themselves. Sylvian Distin was the first to get a goal chance but his shot was wide.
West Ham were given a lucky break 16 minutes into the game. A set piece resulted in the ball being sent into the Everton box. Keeper, Tim Howard, palmed the ball away but it fell to Kovac, who hit it on the turn. Hibbert tried to block the shot with his
right foot but only managed to deflect the ball away from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Tim-Howard-c35095 and the ball ended in his own net.
Everton were shaken by the own goal, and it was http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mikel-Arteta-c25715 who made a good run from the centre of midfield before feeding the ball to Tim Cahill on the edge. The Aussie looked up and chipped a pass towards Coleman, who easily tapped it in to make it 1-1.
The 2nd half saw the game tempo rising to another level for brief spells, but still neither of the team managed to get the decider. The match ended 1-1 and West Ham remain in 19th spot while Everton move up to 11th in the
table.
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