BBC SPORT | Football | Eng Prem | Addicks ease past Hammers

West Ham 0-2 Charlton

First-half strikes from Claus Jensen and John Fortune helped Charlton to victory over east London rivals West Ham at Upton Park.

The Hammers never really recovered from Jensen's fourth-minute goal and although they had plenty of chances, they never put the Charlton goal under sustained pressure.

Dean Kiely produced a couple of smart saves, but the Addicks defence protected him well.

Key moments

4 mins: Jensen fires Charlton ahead

44 mins: John Fortune doubles the Addicks' lead

And after Fortune doubled Charlton's lead on the stroke of half-time with his first goal for the club, the visitors never looked like losing their advantage.

Charlton took the lead with their first real attack, with Jensen sending the Addicks fans into a delighted frenzy.

The Dane raced in to the box, and took advantage of some static defending to rifle the ball past David James from 10 yards.

A Freddie Kanoute snapshot forced an early save from Kiely, while on the quarter hour Edouard Cisse also managed a shot on target after good work from Joe Cole.

The visitors found themselves pressed back as the half progressed and West Ham could have equalised on 22 minutes when Tomas Repka failed to connect with a volley inside the six yard box.

We had a perfect start and defended fantastically - I thought we were well worth our win

Alan Curbishley

Charlton could have made it 2-0 when, after a poor punch from David James, the ball was lobbed goalwards - only for Nigel Winterburn to clear off the line.

Kiely again came to Charlton's rescue just before half-time, pushing Jermain Defoe's shot round the post for a corner.

But West Ham were made to pay for failing to take advantage of their possession as Fortune fired home from the edge of the box following a mix-up in the home defence.

Michael Carrick and Trevor Sinclair both had wayward shots for the Hammers early in the second half, but Charlton began the second half in impressive style.

John Fortune celebrates his goal
John Fortune scored his first goal for Charlton

James tipped over a Jensen free-kick as the visitors attacked, and Cole's booking for dissent - which will not have impressed the watching Sven-Goran Eriksson - summed up the Hammers' frustration.

Sebastian Schemmel missed a chance for the home team just after the hour mark, and West Ham's chances looked bleak.

Charlton's game plan to snuff out the creative threat of Freddie Kanoute, Defoe and Cole had proved very effective, and the fans began to get on West Ham's back.

The two goals we conceded were of our own doing

Glenn Roeder

Kiely produced another great save, this time from Winterburn, with 20 minutes remaining, and a cross just eluded Steve Lomas as West Ham tried to come back.

Charlton still had an attacking edge, and Jason Euell's header drifted just wide, while for West Ham, Trevor Sinclair also came close on 80 minutes.

But the home side never seriously looked like getting back into the game.

West Ham: James, Schemmel, Repka, Winterburn (Camara 76), Dailly, Carrick, Cisse (Lomas 62), Sinclair, Cole, Defoe, Kanoute.
Subs Not Used: Van Der Gouw, Pearce, Breen.

Booked: Carrick, Cole, Repka.

Charlton: Kiely, Kishishev, Powell, Rufus, Euell, Jensen, Robinson (Johansson 87), Svensson (Bartlett 79), Young, Bart-Williams, Fortune.
Subs Not Used: Rachubka, Brown, Fish.

Booked: Rufus.

Attendance: 32,424

Referee: J Winter (Cleveland).


	Links to more Eng Prem stories