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Talking Point

Fifty Years Since Swiss Side Seen Off As Sakho Sinks Sunderland

West Ham United returned to winning ways on Saturday with a welcome 1-0 triumph over struggling Sunderland. The Wearsiders were always going to be a different proposition from the side that lost 4-0 at home to Aston Villa the previous weekend, with Gus Poyet sacked and a new manager appointed in the experienced Dick Advocaat. The Hammers dominated the game, particularly in the second half, and deserved the victory, although admittedly lacking somewhat in creativity against a defensive rearguard who would have been content to claim a point. The home side should have been awarded a penalty when Kevin Nolan was judged to be in an offside position when wrestled to the ground by Santiago Vergini, despite the knock-on coming from a Sunderland player in John O’Shea – another example of ineptitude from the match officials which is becoming all too familiar, not just at Upton Park but across the country this season. Diafra Sakho, who worked tirelessly on Saturday and at the Emirates last weekend, was rewarded for his efforts when the ball broke for him in the 88th minute and he finished clinically. It was great to see West Ham securing points in the latter stages after being the victims of recent late strikes against Manchester United and Tottenham. The win puts the Hammers on 42 points, the earliest stage we have hit that number of Premier League points since 2006 when we went on to finish ninth.

The Sunday papers linked West Ham United with moves for Tottenham’s Emmanuel Adebayor and Newcastle’s Cheick Tiote. Any move for the latter would suggest the Hammers would be unsuccessful in their efforts to permanently sign loanee Alex Song, with a fee of £7.5m mooted for the Ivory Coast midfielder who, at 29 this summer, is two years older than Song. While Song has been out of sorts since Christmas, he is undoubtedly a superior option to Tiote if his transfer fee and wage demands are realistic. The season-long loan move for Adebayor could be a strategy designed to enhance the club’s chances of keeping Song with the pair reported as being close friends from their time together at Arsenal. With crowd favourite Carlton Cole set to be released in the summer, Adebayor could be seen as an upgrade having scored at a rate of one in two in four of his last eight seasons. His league record at Tottenham stands at:

2011/12 – 17 goals in 33 matches
2012/13 – 5 goals in 25 matches
2013/14 – 11 goals in 21 matches
2014/15 so far – 2 goals in 8 matches

Elsewhere, the 23rd March marks the 50th anniversary of the Hammers’ European Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final second leg against Lausanne of Switzerland. With the Londoners 2-1 up from the first leg, 31,780 supporters crammed into the Boleyn Ground with the vast majority concerned to see Dutch international striker Pierre Kerkhoffs give the visitors the lead on 37 minutes to level the tie on aggregate. The Hammers would take a firm grip on the tie by half-time though, an Ely Tacchella own goal on 41 minutes restoring the aggregate lead before Brian Dear struck on the stroke of half-time to put West Ham 2-1 up on the night and 4-2 ahead on aggregate.

The second half saw no end to the drama, Charles Hertig putting the tie back in the balance with a goal in the 49th minute. Martin Peters eased the home side’s nerves with a strike on the hour but Norbert Eschmann scored with ten minutes remaining to ensure a tense finish. One more goal for Lausanne would see the tie go to a play-off but Dear had the final word with a minute to go, making it 4-3 with his second of the night and his third over the tie to seal the Hammers’ passage to the semi-finals, 6-4 on aggregate.

The other quarter-final second leg results were:

Cardiff City 0-1 Real Zaragoza (2-3 on aggregate)
1860 Munich 0-0 Legia Warsaw (4-0 on aggregate)
Dinamo Zagreb 1-2 Torino (2-3 on aggregate)

West Ham United: Jim Standen, Bobby Moore, Ken Brown, Joe Kirkup, Alan Sealey, Martin Peters, Ronnie Boyce, Johnny Sissons, Geoff Hurst, Johnny Byrne, Brian Dear.

Lausanne: Rene Kunzi, Kurt Hunziker, Heinz Schneiter, Ely Tacchella, Andre Grobety, Kurt Armbruster, Richard Durr, Charles Hertig, Pierre Kerkhoffs, Norbert Eschmann, Robert Hosp.

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