PREMIER LEAGUE STRUGGLERS West Ham United and Sunderland played out a 0-0 draw on Saturday that did little for either side’s fortunes in the relegation battle.
Sunderland enjoyed the best of the match at Upton Park, but the closest they came to breaking the deadlock was a first-half shot from Phil Bardsley that came back off the frame of the goal.
Sunderland remain bottom of the table, five points behind fourth-bottom West Ham, who inched a point clear of the relegation places.
West Ham were without the suspended Kevin Nolan and the injured Stewart Downing, with Ravel Morrison and Joe Cole deputising, while Lee Cattermole, Emanuele Giaccherini and Fabio Borini all came in for Sunderland.
Narrowly beaten by Chelsea and then Tottenham Hotspur in their last two outings, Sunderland appeared eager to make it third time lucky and they took the game to their hosts from the start.
Ki Sung-yueng had an early shot saved by West Ham goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen, while Sunderland striker Jozy Altidore dragged an effort wide after going clean through.
West Ham had seen Modibo Maiga blaze over in the early stages and they put the ball in the net in the 21st minute, only for Guy Demel’s volley to be ruled out for a foul.
Sunderland quickly reasserted control, however, and they came within inches of taking the lead in the 34th minute when full-back Bardsley rattled the crossbar with an ambitious attempt from 25 yards.
Giaccherini had an effort deflected narrowly wide, while Cattermole also tested Jaaskelainen from distance.Morrison worked Sunderland goalkeeper Vito Mannone early in the second half, but with the hosts struggling to break their opponents down, manager Sam Allardyce sent on Jack Collison for Matt Jarvis.
Mohamed Diame hit the side netting from an angle for West Ham, but Sunderland continued to threaten, with Giaccherini shooting wastefully wide and Jaaskelainen saving comfortably from Altidore.
Visiting manager Gus Poyet introduced Steven Fletcher and Adam Johnson as Sunderland pushed for a precious three points, and Jaaskelainen had to come to West Ham’s rescue again to turn away another effort from Ki.
Meanwhile, Cardiff City eased their relegation fears with a crucial 1-0 win over fellow strugglers West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
Peter Whittingham scored the only goal of the game on 65 minutes when he showed great determination to turn in Craig Noone’s cross.
The two sides started the day one and two points above the drop zone but the Welsh team’s victory means they now have a little breathing space having opened up a gap of four points to Crystal Palace in 18th place.
West Brom dropped to 16th after a fourth Premier League defeat in a row, and sixth game since their last win against Palace at the beginning of November.
Cardiff snapped their own five-match winless streak.
The game was a turgid affair with little entertainment to warm the spirits of the fans who braved the chilly conditions.
West Brom’s travelling support did at least keep themselves busy jeering their former striker Peter Odemwingie throughout.The Nigerian, who moved to Cardiff in the summer, has not been forgiven for trying to engineer a move away from the Baggies to QPR last January without his club’s permission.
Neither goalkeeper was seriously tested in the first half although Cardiff’s Steven Caulker came close with a volley, while Albion’s best effort came from an inadvertent intervention from home defender Andrew Taylor, who forced his own goalkeeper David Marshall into a smart stop.
Just before the goal, WBA almost took the lead but Gary Medel cleared Gareth McAuley’s shot off the line.
