Just a dreadful first half at Upton Park as the two sides combined for four shots...and West Ham had them all. What can you really say other than Swansea appear to be perfectly content to play for the draw, at least in the first half, and West Ham are trying but looking mostly awful in the process.
The Irons did have a couple chances including an early chance from Mohamed Diamé and two shots from Kevin Nolan that forced saves from Gerhard Tremmel. For what it's worth, Andy Carroll looked very good in the first half for the Irons winning a lot of balls and linking well in the attack. Other than that, there really wasn't much to say about the first 45 minutes.
The second half was much more lively, which was a nice reward for putting up with the first half.
Newcastle got a great chance in the 53rd minute when Matt Jarvis pulled the ball back across the box in to open space for Andy Carroll. The striker promptly skied his shot over the cross bar. Considering he spent some time in the first half being frustrated at teammates over the lack of quality service, he probably should have taken advantage of that chance.
Carroll was back in the 71st minute, getting in the path of a nice flick on from Winston Reid and putting a shot on frame from close range that was neatly blocked away by Tremmel with his feet.
They say third time is the charm and in this game, it rang true. Andy Carroll did a great job on a set piece creating a yard of space between himself and Ashley Williams. Carroll took advantage, skying in to the air and heading home Mark Noble's corner kick to finally give us a goal and put West Ham ahead 1-0 in the 77th minute.
That was enough for West Ham as they held on for their first victory in just over a month.