Newborn West Ham wins again!

I was very nervous before this game. After our lousy game against Middlesborough it would be extra hard to take a loss to a team like Man City. Not mainly because of Bellamy's move, but he did not work as a tranquillizer either. To see him score today would have been to hard to handle. But the result was the opposite; he did not manage much at all today – placed as a midfield winger –  and was even subbed. To the joy of me and the home fans. It was actually hard to find any player that did really well in the guest's team. Mainly because we were so much better in midfield today. One sad thing though, as Behrami had to be taken off on a stretcher with a bottle of oxygen by his side. His ankle (or knee?) was so badly hurt it will be hard to see that he will play more this season.

Man City may have had the best chances of the game, but still: we won in a decent way, fought hard and had ideas again! Our first win in five games. But one of our most important victories in this year's PL. The goal came after 70 minutes when Savios good, curled shot was to hard to handle for Given. He could only punch it right out to Collison who lifted the ball into the net. Great moves from both of our youngsters.

Green 7.5 - What a wonderful save in the first half! Could, one or two times have taken control of his box, but overall a good performance. 

Neill 7 - Good game as he kept all their wingers quiet. Not fast, but played wise.

Tomkins 7 - Played very safe and did not try anything complicated during the whole game, which was the right way to do it.

Upson 6.5 - He dominated the air, but showed again that he may not be in his best form. Did two mistakes in the same ManC attack which nearly cost us. But apart from that: Good game!

Ilunga 7.5 - His first half was (again) more than excellent as he took control of everything defensively and had the time to be our only threat at his flank with clever passes and runs. Lost control of the situation once when he tried to block Bellamy and was more quiet after that. But we can see that he and Savio can become something real good down our left.

Behrami 6 - So sad to see him hurt so badly. After two mediocre games he really started this game well before he had to be taken off seriously injured.

Kovac 6.5 - This is a man we will see much more of after his home debut which was good. Not during all 90 minutes, but he has just started to find his place in an important role. Good defensive work. This is a man yu want to see live, because much of his work is done outside the tv-camera.

Scott Parker 8 - My man of the match. Well, not because he first forced Micah Richards and late on Robinho off, but the way he takes control of the whole field. Works so hard and with such accuracy. May sometimes be "too important" for us during the games...

Collison 7.5 - Young which means he sometimes drift out of the games and sometimes takes the wrong decision, but had a great game and made us the winner with a cool finish! Must be the young player that has grown most during this season.

Di Michele 7* - It's hard to rate his shots (I thought those Italians could shoot!) but worked hard, ran in all directions and proved that he is a starter for us, seems more and more comfortable with Cole. Did not loose the ball in stupid situations as he seems to do sometimes.

Carlton Cole 8 - Great work! Lost one header during all game. Took control of all the long passes he was given and even when he was injured he managed to continue and fight, often with two, sometimes with three men.

Subs: Savio 7 - On for Behrami and you can see that he is not a finished article. But also gives us hope for a bright future as he did his best game for us so far. His shot was deflected by Given to Collison. So an important contribution.

Spector - On late but did well during his few minutes.

Lopez- Had a couple of minutes which was his PL debut. Congratulations.

Nonused subs: Lastuvka, Sears, Stanislas (!), Payne (!).

*As I saw the game once again I have to give Di Michele credit for his workrate. It was great! So it's now 0.5 points better than in the original post.