LONDON - West Ham United ended
their eight-match losing streak and scored their first goal in the Premier
League for six games with a tense 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers at Upton Park on
Sunday.
Man of the match Teddy Sheringham opened the scoring for the Hammers after 21
minutes with his first goal since turning 40 last April -- a well-placed header
after a perfect cross from Yossi Benayoun.
Hayden Mullins added their second from close range 10 minutes from time after
Blackburn poorly defended a West Ham corner.
David Bentley pulled a goal back for Blackburn in stoppage time to give the
Hammers a nervous few minutes before the final whistle.
Relieved West Ham manager Alan Pardew told Sky Sports: "It's been a long wait
... but we deserved to win today.
"To come off the back of as many defeats as we have had, I don't even like
talking about it, you don't usually get a win, maybe your first one is a draw,
and we did get very, very nervous.
"But it's a great win for this club and the fans and the players deserve it."
Sheringham's goal was the first West Ham had scored in the league for 509
minutes, or 8-1/2 hours of playing time, and it set them on the way to their
first win since their 3-1 opening day victory against Charlton Athletic.
They had lost eight successive games in all competitions which included
elimination from the UEFA Cup by Palermo and the League Cup by third division
Chesterfield on Tuesday.
They also won without either of their two Argentine signings with Carlos
Tevez injured and Javier Mascherano spending the match on the substitute's
bench.
Blackburn's third defeat in a week following home losses to Bolton Wanderers
in the league and Chelsea in the League Cup was marred by the loss of striker
Jason Roberts who was taken to hospital with what was diagnosed as a fractured
foot.
"It was a bad day for us," said Blackburn manager Mark Hughes, "and Jason's
injury is a serious one."
The win lifted West Ham from 19th place to 16th with eight points from their
opening 10 matches and eased the pressure on Pardew whose immediate future had
been the subject of intense media speculation for the last few weeks.
"Maybe this will be the start of a little period of calm for us," he added.
