1st September, 2007

KB: KUMB; HM Hammers Mad; ST Sunday Times; SE Sunday Express; SM Sunday Mirror; OB Observer;
DM Daily Mirror; GU Guardian; TM Times; HD Hammers Diary; SK Sky; DE Daily Express

SA Sanchoz; CO Coley; IFO If Only; BF Bishops Finger; BU Bumpkin; BH Bonehead;
WH WestLondonHammer; AD Arch Dandy; HS Hammer Scout; HN Houston

West Ham v Reading: Video Highlights

Sky Sports: It had taken the home fans just a few minutes to start the inevitable "6-0" chants but within seconds Bellamy had netted his third goal in claret and blue, adding to his midweek Carling Cup double at Bristol Rovers with aplomb. Reading's undoing was of their own initial making however as James Harper was carelessly dispossessed in midfield by Lee Bowyer and Ivar Ingimarsson was never going to catch the Welshman. There was work still to be done for the £7.5million summer signing from Liverpool but his low, angled drive from the right of the box was perfectly placed to elude the outstretched arm of goalkeeper Hahnemann. Dean Ashton, who was making his first start since the 2006 FA Cup final, fired a shot at Hahnemann after having won a corner seconds earlier and the Hammers continued to look dangerous on the break. Mark Noble crashed a drive just wide from the edge of the box and there was a let-off for Hahnemann when he fumbled a cross into Etherington's path only for the winger to stab it harmlessly wide. It took West Ham just four second-half minutes to double their lead through Etherington. The winger played a clever one-two with Bellamy after Hayden Mullins' ball across the Reading box had not been intercepted and he was able to beat Hahnemann with a rising drive from an angle on the left. Reading passed up an opportunity to get back in the match when goalkeeper Green saved a penalty he had conceded himself. The England man upended Dave Kitson but stayed on the pitch to guess correctly and block Doyle's spot-kick with a dive to his left. (1st September, 2007)

BBC Sport: Craig Bellamy scored one goal and made another as West Ham secured a stylish victory at the Madejski Stadium. Bellamy raced on to Lee Bowyer's pass to slot the opener within six minutes. And the fiery striker then played a key role in setting up Matthew Etherington who rounded off a glorious move to blast the second after the restart. Alan Curbishley's side dominated and Mark Noble, Bowyer and Etherington all wasted excellent chances to have made the game safe before Doyle was denied by Green's full length stop... Curbishley must have feared the worst when Green felled the on-rushing Dave Kitson in the area with a quarter of an hour to go. But Green redeemed himself, diving across his goal to deny Doyle and also pulling off an even better save to keep out substitute Kalifa Cisse's injury-time strike. The Hammers then broke and fittingly rounded off the win with another breakaway goal, Etherington providing another cool finish after latching on to Carlton Cole's pass. (1st September, 2007)

Sunday Times: Making light of harsh memories, and the loss in midweek of Kieron Dyer, West Ham, inspired by Craig Bellamy, simply took Reading to pieces. As early as the sixth minute, it was plain that West Ham were most unlikely to repeat the fearful 6-0 humiliation they suffered here last New Year’s Day. When Lee Bowyer intercepted a Reading midfield pass, he expertly and precisely stroked the ball to enable Craig Bellamy to go through a huge gap. Away went Bellamy, never an easy man to catch at the best of times, finally to send his low right-footed cross-shot into the left-hand corner of the Reading goal. West Ham could not add to that early goal before half-time, but they had unquestionably been the better team, poised, intelligent and progressive against a Reading side which played only in fits and starts... Bellamy was, at his most lively and illusive, a sharp contrast to the player one has seen untypically labouring when West Ham lost their first Premier League game of the season at home to Manchester City. At his best Bellamy has speed of thought as well as speed of foot... After four minutes of the second half, West Ham had doubled their lead with a splendidly well-taken goal. It was interesting the scorer, who also played a crucial part in the build up, should be the left winger Matthew Etherington. Against Manchester City, sent on as a substitute, he had looked far the most impressive and effective of a largely dull team. He did not produce much of consequence in the first half. But now Bellamy moved the ball out to Etherington, who played a crisp one-two with his forward, then drove his shot home. There was something horribly amiss about this Reading defence, embarrassingly vulnerable to the throughball. Twice in half a dozen second-half minutes it was penetrated again, and twice they escaped, when West Ham seemed certain to score... Hope burgeoned in the Reading side when, with 14 minutes left, Nicky Shorey, who West Ham have recently been pursuing, sent the ball through to the substitute Dave Kitson. Robert Green rushed out of the West Ham goal, dived at Kitson’s feet, only to bring him down. The penalty was taken by Doyle, but his effort was close enough for Green to make amends by diving to his left and keeping the shot out. Employing Kitson up front in what was now a 4-3-3 formation, Reading’s defence simply disintegrated. When the irrepressible Bellamy found Cole, Hahnemann brought off another accomplished save. At the other end, in a brief Reading flurry, Kalifa Cisse had a shot blocked, but away came West Ham again, Cole bisected what now passed for Reading’s defence and Etherington scored again, a drilled left-foot shot from 20 yards. (Brian Glanville, 2nd September, 2007)

Sunday Mirror: Alan Curbishley attempted to play down talk of revenge following West Ham's 6-0 defeat here last season. But the elation that followed his side's emphatic victory made a complete mockery of those claims. Curbishley was punching the air in delight and chairman Eggert Magnusson nearly fell out the director's box as he over-elaborated his celebrations. Goals from Craig Bellamy and a second-half brace from Matthew Etherington saw the Hammers cruise to victory. "After we opened the scoring I was getting more and more frustrated because we needed to finish the game off. But once Matthew Etherington got the second it enabled me to relax a bit more. "We have been hit by a series of untimely injuries but the players have stepped up to the plate." (Paul Smith, 2nd September, 2007)

The Observer: This was a masterclass in how not to play against West Ham. For all West Ham's faults, they are a team who know how to break quickly from deep positions and have the players to capitalise on counter-attacks. Reading defeated West Ham 6-0 in their last meeting here on New Year's Day, so Steve Coppell's team really should have known better. But clearly they didn't. Three times, they recklessly committed men forward and allowed West Ham to run at their backpedalling defence. Three times, they were punished. Three men deserve special praise. Craig Bellamy, showing pace and poise, scored the first and teed up the second. Matthew Etherington delivered the killer touches for the second goal and then - in the dying moments - the third. And the other West Ham hero was their goalkeeper Robert Green, who made the 76th-minute save from Kevin Doyle's penalty that ensured it would be a far more comfortable end to the game than it could have been for Alan Curbishley's team. (Arindam Rej, 2nd September, 2007)

Daily Mirror: Robert Green felt "lower than a snake's belly" after his last trip to Reading - but enjoyed sweet revenge on Saturday after an incredible stroke of luck. West Ham keeper Green saved the first penalty of his career - from Kevin Doyle - but only because his injured right leg hurt so much it meant he had no option but to dive left... Even Anton Ferdinand, the epitome of the "Baby Bentley" culture, was outstanding and the superb victory at the scene of their worst humiliation would suggest that the bad old days are behind Hammers. But it was also redemption for in-form Green, who was dropped after he conceded six in January. He produced a string of brilliant saves, including the one from Doyle's 76th-minute penalty, even though he was injured. "I got a dead leg in the first half and I couldn't dive to my right so I had to dive to my left," smiled Green. "You know your luck's in when that happens. I've never saved a penalty before and I've played nearly 300 games. I saved one against Southampton but it got re-taken so that didn't count." Another man to catch the eye was West Ham striker Craig Bellamy, whose pace ripped Reading apart. The Welshman scored once and played a part in one of two goals for Matthew Etherington. Reading simply could not live with West Ham's pace on the counter-attack. Etherington, Mark Noble, Lee Bowyer and Bellamy all missed great chances as Steve Coppell's men were outplayed. (John Cross 3rd September, 2007)

The Times: Eight months ago, West Ham United left the Madejski Stadium in a state of chaos. They had lost 6-0 to Reading, were nosediving towards relegation and Alan Curbishley, their manager, criticised the “Baby Bentley” culture of claret-and-blue excess. On Saturday, the demons of New Year’s Day were exorcised in emphatic fashion. West Ham could have scored six, such was the power of the counter-attacking thrusts led by Craig Bellamy and Matthew Etherington. Ferrari-style pace abounded... Bellamy may infuriate many, with his strutting manner and nonstop verbals, but his high-octane tempo is priceless and Curbishley believes that he can earn cult status at Upton Park: a sort of Welsh version of Paolo Di Canio. “We worked hard to get Craig here,” Curbishley said. “I promised we would get other players in and I told him that the fans would love him for his endeavour, his passion, his finishing. I said, If you come here, they will carry you around the Boleyn.” (Russell Kempson, 3rd September, 2007)

The Guardian: Just for a change West Ham went about bursting bubbles rather than blowing them on Saturday. Shaking off their torporific home form, Alan Curbishley's team suggested that what was a miracle at Reading last season may become a mirage before the present one is much older. Backed by solid defending and sound goalkeeping, West Ham employed their speed in counter-attacks to lay the spectre of a 6-0 humiliation on New Year's Day. True, only four of those who started that match lined up this time but among them was Robert Green, who had kept the score in single figures, and Anton Ferdinand, whose own-goal had summed up the wretchedness of his afternoon. Now Green saved the penalty which could have prompted a Reading revival while Ferdinand's performance at centre-back alongside the equally excellent Matthew Upson frustrated the potentially prolific partnership of Kevin Doyle and Leroy Lita... While Ashton, starting for the first time since returning from a season's absence with a broken ankle, has lost none of his ability to hold the ball up and link the play he is still some way off the form which promised an England career. (David Lacey, 3rd September, 2007)

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