West Ham 0-0 Man City

Steve Stammers At Upton Park, sundaymirror.co.uk 6/01/2008

FA Cup romance was in short supply at Upton Park - but at least there was plenty of respect for the oldest cup competition in the world.

No heroes and very few heroics. The occasional moment of controversy and shouts for two penalties - both shown to be justified on television replays.

But while goals were non-existent and incidents were few, both managers deserve credit for their respective team selections.

No reserves, no dismissive pre-match comments about the status of the trophy which was once prized by all but is now clearly regarded as a nuisance by many.

Perhaps the major plaudit should go to City's Sven Goran Eriksson. With a Champions League place still in his sights, he could have been forgiven for resting a number of his first-choice players but he opted to go for his strongest line-up. Only the flu-stricken Brazilian Elano was absent.

His West Ham counterpart Alan Curbishley had no such dilemma when filling in his team sheet. Basically, if you are fit these days at West Ham, you are involved.

"By playing their strongest possible team, Manchester City gave the competition respect," said Curbishley.

"That was a tough game for us and my players gave everything."

He evidently thought that Lucas Neill had given enough because the captain was withdrawn at half-time.

"Tight hamstring," explained Curbishley - the type of injury that would not be helped by chasing the shadows left by flying Bulgarian winger Martin Petrov.

Jonathan Spector was handed the baton for the second half but he had no more success than Neill in suppressing the marauding runs of Petrov.

Fortunately for West Ham, Anton Ferdinand and Matthew Upson were at their commanding best in central defence to clear any danger. Ferdinand in particular is beginning to earn a reputation for his football rather than his ownership of the most expensive watch in East London.

Curbishley now hopes that by the replay in ten days' time his injury list will have eased, with the likes of Luis Boa Morte and even Julien Faubert available.

That replay, however, could well have been redundant had referee Rob Styles been in the generous mood that earned him a weekend off earlier this season after his decision to give Chelsea a penalty that wasn't at Anfield.

Petrov was clearly brought down by Ferdinand in the 16th minute. "I think it was a penalty," said Eriksson.

"I think we were unlucky. But I think we will have it at home."

West Ham countered with a shout of their own in the final seconds when Mark Noble - a bundle of energy and tenacity in central midfield - swung in a corner and Vedran Corluka appeared to handle to prevent Carlton Cole getting a clean header on goal.

"My players are saying handball but I think Rob Styles was behind it and couldn't see," said Curbishley.

So that's 1-1 then - although the chances are that respective goalkeepers Rob Green and Joe Hart would have saved the spotkicks anyway as both were in excellent form.

Eriksson was generous in his praise of Hart, currently his first choice and forcing Sweden's number one Andreas Isaksson to consider his future at the club.

"He has a little bit of everything," said Eriksson. "He has fantastic ability and is one of the great goalkeeping talents in this country."

As he showed with saves from Matthew Etherington and Dean Ashton. Not to be outdone, Green showed his quality by keeping out a close-range volley from Stephen Ireland and dived bravely at the feet to frustrate Corluka.

HOW THEY RATED

WEST HAM
Green 6, Neill 6 (Spector 6), Ferdinand 6, Upson 6, McCartney 6, Pantsil 5, Noble 6, Mullins 6 (Bowyer 5), Etherington 6 (Reid 5) Ashton 5, Cole 6.
Manager Curbishley 6

MAN CITY
Hart 6, Onuoha 5, Richards 6, Dunne 6, Ball 6, Ireland 5 (Etuhu 5), CORLUKA 7, Hamann 6, Petrov 5, Castillo 5 (Gelson 5), Vassell 5 (Bianchi 5).
Manager Eriksson 6

Referee R Styles 7

Man of the Match
Vedran Corluka
A superb signing by Eriksson. The Croatian is the model professional and his versatility is an immense asset to City. Filled in wherever he was needed - including central defence for a spell while Dunne was off.

HEAD TO HEAD
Dean Ashton v Richard Dunne
Dunne has been in outstanding form this season so Ashton could not have asked for a tougher test. The City man came out the winner on points.