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| Carlton Cole © Reuters |
West Ham hit top form and continued their climb away from the
Premier League relegation zone with a commanding 5-3 victory over
Burnley in an entertaining game at Upton Park on Saturday.
Welsh international midfielder Jack Collison gave the hosts an
18th-minute lead after latching onto Scott Parker's quick
free-kick, with Junior Stanislas and top scorer Carlton Cole also
on target before the break.
Cole hobbled off early in the second half but Guillermo Franco
soon had the home side 4-0 ahead before substitute Luis Jimenez
scored from the spot.
Burnley rallied in the second half, with Steven Fletcher scoring
twice and Chris Eagles also got on the scoresheet, but it was
nonetheless another forgettable away day for Owen Coyle's men, who
had Steven Caldwell sent off late on.
The victory, West Ham's third of the season, keeps them in 17th
place but they are now just a point behind Everton and Birmingham
City, both of whom play on Sunday.
Burnley centre-back Clarke Carlisle had seen a header cleared
off the line and Franco had struck the crossbar before Collison put
the hosts ahead.
The 21-year-old netted early on to give the Hammers a 2-0 lead
in the 3-3 draw at Hull on Wednesday and he was quickly into his
goal-scoring stride again, slotting home after Parker had caught
the Burnley defence napping.
Stanislas was the next man to break the visitors' offside trap
when he broke clear to latch onto Franco's intelligent reverse pass
and he finished at the second attempt after Brian Jensen parried
his initial effort.
Burnley's form away from Turf Moor has been dire this season,
with just a single point picked up on their travels, and they fell
three goals down two minutes before the break.
Robbie Blake was adjudged to have fouled full-back Jonathan
Spector in the away side's penalty area and England international
Cole converted the ensuing spotkick for his seventh league goal of
the campaign.
Franco got the goal his performance deserved when he headed home
Stanislas's centre on 51 minutes and his replacement Jimenez made
it 5-0 with a penalty he had earned after being felled by the
unfortunate Jensen.
Both of Fletcher's late goals were set up by Eagles, who then
helped himself to his second goal of the season, shortly after
Caldwell had been dismissed for dragging back the livewire Zavon
Hines.
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