West Ham 0 West Brom 1

Last updated : 11 September 2002 By Footymad Previewer

Jason Roberts' 28th minute strike ensured that winless West Ham's disastrous start to the season continued at a disgruntled Upton Park.

While West Brom defended stoutly to secure their second Premiership victory, the hari-kari Hammers were left to reflect upon a catalogue of frustrating misses that kept them stranded in 20th place.

West Ham had welcomed back inspirational skipper Paolo di Canio after a five-month absence and in a bright opening the Italian wasted no time showing the Eastenders what they had been missing by carving out a golden opening for Joe Cole, who wastefully slid wide And after the lively England midfielder twice went close again, di Canio himself almost flicked home at the near post.

As Albion's five-man defensive blanket struggled to subdue the West Ham threat, Russell Hoult was spectacularly forced to push Cole's first-time volley aside before again denying the luckless Hammer from the resultant corner.

But failure to find the net was to prove costly for Glenn Roeder's men, for as the half-hour mark approached Phil Gilchrist's defence-splitting throughball released Roberts, who out-paced both Tomas Repka and debutant Gary Breen before coolly slotting past the exposed David James.

With more composure in front of goal, Albion might even have ended the contest by the break. However, West Ham survived to fight another half and just after the restart Frederic Kanoute and Michael Carrick each missed from close range while on the hour Edouard Cisse fired wide after Hoult found himself stranded outside his area.

Only James' agile double stop then denied the menacing Roberts and substitute Scott Dobie while Sean Gregan also let fly amidst gathering East End chants of "Roeder sort it out".

With 15 minutes left, the Hammers boss pitched on Steve Lomas and Jermain Defoe, but their arrival came far too late to prevent West Ham from finishing the match where they had started, marooned in bottom spot