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Burnley 2-1 West Ham United
Match Reports, 17:43, February 6, 2010 ,
Burnley are out of the bottom three as Brian Laws picked up his first top-flight win in a bottom-of-the-table clash with West Ham.
The hosts took the lead after 14 minutes through David Nugent who celebrated his first goal since rejoining from Portsmouth. The forward capitalised on poor defending to lift the ball over a stranded Rob Green.
The hosts enjoyed the better of the first-half and it looked like it could be a rollover with the Hammers offering very little going forward.
Gianfranco Zola's side did conjure a slight revival however with all the chances falling to Benni McCarthy. The former Blackburn forward thought he had netted a debut goal just after the half hour mark when he rounded Brian Jensen only to see his side-footed effort superbly hooked off the line by Leon Cort.
The £2 million signing forward did not return for the second-half after picking up a knock and Zola handed another first appearance to Mido. The Egyptian made an immediate impact but saw an early shot whistle past the post.
Danny Fox, making his first start for the Clarets, wreaked havoc with set-pieces all afternoon and doubled his side's lead ten minutes after the interval with a curling free-kick that left Rob Green helpless.
The East Londoners bounced back with purpose and threw caution to the wind as Brazilian striker Araujo Ilan also made his debut. Carlton Cole had a goal disallowed for offside while Scott Parker and Junior Stanislas both came close for the visitors.
It was Ilan who gave Zola's side a glimmer of hope however as he stabbed home a loose ball with his first touch on 80 minutes and his side surged forward from then onwards. Mido came agonizingly close to levelling the scoreline as a close range volley came back off the post but it was too little too late for West Ham who fall back into the relegation zone.