NORWICH 3-1 WESTHAM

Norwich responded to last weekend's
7-0 humiliation at Manchester City
with a valuable 3-1 win against West
Ham at Carrow Road.
Ravel Morrison handed the Hammers a
first-half lead but Norwich bounced back
with three second-half goals.
Gary Hooper scored from the penalty
spot to restore parity before a wonderful
Robert Snodgrass free-kick handed City
the lead and Leroy Fer settled the
contest deep in stoppage-time.
Both sides also saw efforts come back off
the woodwork but it was Norwich, who
had started the day in the bottom three,
who held on to take all three points and
climb above the Hammers and up to 15th
place.
West Ham started to exert their authority
on the game with Norwich proving
wasteful in possession all too often,
looking nervous.
Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy was
forced into the first meaningful save of
the game on 12 minutes as he pushed
away Kevin Nolan's effort. The ball was
eventually turned behind for a corner
with Guy Demel's header coming back off
the crossbar.
It was Nolan who had the next good
chance as the West Ham skipper opened
up his body to take Razvan Rat's cross first
time, but his shot was too close to Ruddy
to cause the England goalkeeper
problems.
Nolan was once again heavily involved as
the visitors deservedly broke the
deadlock through Morrison.
After seeing his initial shot blocked, Nolan
collected the ball on the byline and pulled
it back perfectly for Morrison to tuck his
chance away and give Allardyce's side the
lead after a long spell of dominance from
the Hammers.
Nathan Redmond was introduced from
the bench by Chris Hughton in the
immediate aftermath of the goal as
Anthony Pilkington appeared to have
been struggling with a knock for some
time.
With no further chances for either side,
West Ham led at the break and the home
fans vented their frustration as the teams
headed towards the dressing rooms.
The toxic atmosphere inside Carrow Road
soon changed as referee Jon Moss
awarded Norwich a penalty eight minutes
into the second half.
Jussi Jaaskelainen failed to hold a tame
header from Michael Turner and, after
clambering around to deal with his
spillage, the experienced Finn brought
down Hooper, who stepped up to tuck
away the resulting spot-kick.
The lead was almost very short-lived as
the Norwich defence could not deal with
a ball into their box, with the returning
James Collins thrashing a volley wide for
the visitors.
Fer then bent an effort high over the
crossbar after being afforded far too much
time and space on the edge of the West
Ham box as the Canaries continued to
come back into the game.
West Ham enjoyed a spell on the ball
before Jonny Howson went much closer in
the 70th minute with a dipping long-
range effort cannoning off the crossbar
with Jaaskelainen well beaten.
The ball bounced out to Snodgrass, who
was brought down by Collins and the
Scotland winger curled the free-kick over
the wall and into the net to put the home
side ahead.
The goal seemed to inject new belief into
the Norwich players and they continued
to create chances as good work from Fer
resulted in Hooper letting fly with a well-
struck effort that was too close to
Jaaskelainen.
The best chance to add a third was
spurned by Snodgrass, who hacked at a
clever knockdown by Johan Elmander
when well placed in front of goal.
But the Canaries did manage to make it
3-1, with Fer tucking away a coolly taken
chance in stoppage-time as Norwich
sealed their third win of the season and, if
Allardyce is to be believed, helped
convert the pressure from Hughton on to
the West Ham boss.