Burnley 2 West Ham 1 (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

Burnley 2 West Ham 1

6:31pm Saturday 6th February 2010 in

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Burnley 2
West Ham 1
Premier League

WEST HAM were sucked into the relegation zone after they were beaten 2-1 by fellow strugglers Burnley at Turf Moor, despite new signing Ilan Araujo netting on his debut.

The Hammers fell behind thanks to David Nugent’s clever lob and another debutant Daniel Fox scored with a free-kick to put the Clarets two up, before Ilan slid in to set up a nail-biting climax.

It was Fox that set up Nugent for the first goal, picking the striker out with a pinpoint ball over the top. The former Portsmouth player got the wrong side of Matthew Upson and brilliantly lifted the ball over the stranded Robert Green.

Midfielder Jack Collison could consider himself lucky not to have conceded two penalties after he appeared to shove Nugent in the box before tripping Tyrone Mears just outside the box. The foul was to prove costly as it was Fox who stepped up to curl home the second.

Carlton Cole started his first match in three months against the very side that he suffered the knee injury that has kept him out of action for so long, but he was powerless to turn the tables for the Hammers.

Benni McCarthy was his partner up front, making his debut after completing his move from Blackburn Rovers on transfer deadline day on Monday. But he was largely anonymous, save for a horribly skewed effort and another that was cleared off the line.

The South African gave way for another new boy in Mido at half-time, and the Egyptian’s impact was immediate, causing Burnley plenty of problems.

Ilan was also later introduced and it was the new pair that combined for the visitors’ goal, Mido nudging the ball to his fellow striker and the Brazilian found the roof of the net.

Junior Stanislas, who had earlier rattled the bar with a free-kick, set up Mido as the game drew to a close, but the forward could only guide his shot against Brian Jensen’s post.

Gianfranco Zola admitted it was a ‘step back’ in his team’s development.

“Today has been a little step back but we will come back stronger, I'm sure of that,” said the Italian. “But we have to be quick because time is running out and the table requires it. "I'm not worried, I'm just disappointed because we had enough to do better.

"We have to make sure we cut out our mistakes because it has been the story of our season, we've played some good football at times and lost games because of mistakes."