West Ham United 1 Joe Cole 68
QPR 1 Remy 14
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| Loïc Rémy scores the opening goal after 14 minutes of his QPR debut against West Ham at Upton Park. |
Harry Redknapp could have seen it coming. It is 14 years since he gave Joe Cole his professional debut for West Ham and he was frustrated in his attempts to bring him to Loftus Road this month, so there was an inevitability that the former Liverpool midfielder would score the equaliser that prevented QPR from snatching an improbable and invaluable victory. QPR remain four points adrift at the bottom of the table, but at least Redknapp could bask in the satisfaction of a goal on his debut for Loïc Rémy after his £8m arrival from Marseille.
While QPR were fortunate to escape with a point and were indebted to the brilliance of their goalkeeper, Júlio César, Redknapp will still see reasons for optimism. Three weeks ago QPR looked done for after a 3-0 humiliation at home to Liverpool, but since then they have enjoyed an unlikely resurgence, winning at Chelsea and drawing with Tottenham, and this draw stretched their unbeaten run to five matches in all competitions.
Whereas QPR were once a soft touch, they are finally playing as a team and can also count on a touch of class in attack. Rémy was ridiculed for his decision to join QPR instead of Newcastle, raising eyebrows by claiming that he was attracted by the challenge of saving his new side rather than the reported £75,000 a week they are paying him.
Talk is cheap, however, and there is only one way for Rémy to silence his critics. On a bitterly cold afternoon in east London, he did not freeze on his big day and needed only 14 minutes to make his mark. There are already signs of a potentially fruitful partnership with Adel Taarabt, and when the Moroccan slipped him in behind Winston Reid, he took a moment to compose himself before beating Jussi Jaaskelainen from the edge of the area.
"He will do that," said Redknapp. "He's got great movement off the ball. He's got lightning pace. He will score goals. I thought him and Taarabt were going to do some damage but we came under the cosh. We have to try to play with a bit more quality. You have to be bold and keep the ball. You can't just keep kicking the ball back."
Sam Allardyce was upset that his side had fallen for QPR's rather obvious plan to hurt them on the break but they should have rectified such negligence long before Joe Cole levelled the game after 68 minutes.
West Ham started brightly and César made superb reaction saves from Reid and Kevin Nolan early on. He would later make a fine save to deny Joe Cole, and twice kept out headers from Marouane Chamakh. "It's our achilles heel," Allardyce said. "Our front men don't score enough to win us games."
West Ham might have also had a penalty when Clint Hill pulled off his best Laurent Koscielny impression as Chamakh turned in the area, before the Moroccan striker made the most of minimal contact with Shaun Wright-Phillips. "Looking at the replay it looks like Howard Webb's not in a great position to see it," Allardyce said.
In the end, he was grateful for Joe Cole's intervention. Carlton Cole had only been on the pitch for six minutes when he met Matt Jarvis's cross with a downward header. César saved again but Joe Cole was on hand to tap home the rebound. It was his first goal for West Ham since 11 January 2003.
From there, West Ham should have won but Stéphane M'bia blocked Reid's goalbound volley and Fábio da Silva cleared off the line from Joe Cole. "It was a point gained," Redknapp said. "I can't say we deserved to win. That would be nonsense."
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Wigan Athletic undone by Alfred N'Diaye as Sunderland steal key win
Wigan Athletic 2 Vaughan (og) 5, Henriquez 79
Sunderland 3 Gardner (pen) 17, Fletcher 20,
Sunderland 3 Gardner (pen) 17, Fletcher 20,
Fletcher 42
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| Midfielder Craig Gardner scores the equalising goal for Sunderland with a penalty at Wigan Athletic. |
Bought by the Sunderland manager, Martin O'Neill, from Bursaspor for £3m, Alfred N'Diaye could be one of those January signings who gives panic buying a good name. The French midfielder's full debut for the Black Cats was outstanding. Barrel-chested, slightly knock-kneed, the 22-year-old covered an extraordinary amount of ground, breaking up any number of Wigan attacks with tackles and interceptions, distributing the ball intelligently and creating one of two goals for Steven Fletcher.
Even at the end, when Sunderland were desperately hanging on, N'Diaye was diving to head the ball clear from his penalty area.
"We've had to show a lot of fight and determination, and we did that," said O'Neill. "N'Diaye is a strong lad, his vitality is there to see, and when he learns about the game – because he's still very raw, he's only 22 – he'll be really good. He's only been around the club for a short time, and when he gets to know the players he'll do great for us."
Having fallen behind early, when David Vaughan deflected Ronnie Stam's low ball into the six-yard box past his own goalkeeper, Sunderland responded in some style. They may have been slightly fortunate to be awarded a penalty when Sebastian Larsson's free-kick hit the arm of James McCarthy, albeit that said arm was raised at the time, but after Craig Gardner had sent Ali al-Habsi the wrong way from the spot they sensed Wigan's vulnerability and in Fletcher, had the man to exploit it.
His first goal owed all to N'Diaye's wonderful cross from the left. Habsi pulled off a brilliant save from Fletcher's initial header, but the ball looped up and the goalkeeper was still on the floor when Fletcher volleyed it stylishly into the empty net.
His second, and 10th of the season, was a superb finish after Adam Johnson had controlled and laid off Fletcher's flick-on off Gardner's long free-kick. From the edge of the box Fletcher had plenty to do, but his first-time side-footed shot into the top corner was as beautifully timed as it was unerringly accurate.
The second half saw a spirited Wigan fightback orchestrated by Shaun Maloney who, having already hit the outside of the post with a free-kick, crossed for Manchester United loanee Angelo Henríquez to head home and set up a frantic final 10 minutes or so during which the Latics were unlucky not to create an equaliser.
"It's one of those days that you finish the game and feel you have nobody to blame except yourself," said the Wigan manager, Roberto Martínez, who brought his new signing, the Honduras international Roger Espinoza, on at half-time to make his home debut.
"If we had done things better for a period of 25 minutes in the first half we would have won the game. The fact we coped with the adversity of giving Sunderland a two-goal lead and came out and controlled the second half is a cause for satisfaction, but the penalty affected us too much – we couldn't keep the ball, and didn't play well at all, but still shouldn't have conceded two goals."
Wigan have now slipped back into the relegation zone – Sunderland's win, their fifth in eight games, lifting them into 11th – but Martínez remains confident his side will preserve their Premier League status for a ninth consecutive season. The key may be to find a replacement for centre-back Ivan Ramis, out for the season after injuring a cruciate ligament at Fulham. "We weren't good enough for 30 minutes, but we can rectify that," Martínez said. "Ramis's injury last week cost us today's points."
Even at the end, when Sunderland were desperately hanging on, N'Diaye was diving to head the ball clear from his penalty area.
"We've had to show a lot of fight and determination, and we did that," said O'Neill. "N'Diaye is a strong lad, his vitality is there to see, and when he learns about the game – because he's still very raw, he's only 22 – he'll be really good. He's only been around the club for a short time, and when he gets to know the players he'll do great for us."
Having fallen behind early, when David Vaughan deflected Ronnie Stam's low ball into the six-yard box past his own goalkeeper, Sunderland responded in some style. They may have been slightly fortunate to be awarded a penalty when Sebastian Larsson's free-kick hit the arm of James McCarthy, albeit that said arm was raised at the time, but after Craig Gardner had sent Ali al-Habsi the wrong way from the spot they sensed Wigan's vulnerability and in Fletcher, had the man to exploit it.
His first goal owed all to N'Diaye's wonderful cross from the left. Habsi pulled off a brilliant save from Fletcher's initial header, but the ball looped up and the goalkeeper was still on the floor when Fletcher volleyed it stylishly into the empty net.
His second, and 10th of the season, was a superb finish after Adam Johnson had controlled and laid off Fletcher's flick-on off Gardner's long free-kick. From the edge of the box Fletcher had plenty to do, but his first-time side-footed shot into the top corner was as beautifully timed as it was unerringly accurate.
The second half saw a spirited Wigan fightback orchestrated by Shaun Maloney who, having already hit the outside of the post with a free-kick, crossed for Manchester United loanee Angelo Henríquez to head home and set up a frantic final 10 minutes or so during which the Latics were unlucky not to create an equaliser.
"It's one of those days that you finish the game and feel you have nobody to blame except yourself," said the Wigan manager, Roberto Martínez, who brought his new signing, the Honduras international Roger Espinoza, on at half-time to make his home debut.
"If we had done things better for a period of 25 minutes in the first half we would have won the game. The fact we coped with the adversity of giving Sunderland a two-goal lead and came out and controlled the second half is a cause for satisfaction, but the penalty affected us too much – we couldn't keep the ball, and didn't play well at all, but still shouldn't have conceded two goals."
Wigan have now slipped back into the relegation zone – Sunderland's win, their fifth in eight games, lifting them into 11th – but Martínez remains confident his side will preserve their Premier League status for a ninth consecutive season. The key may be to find a replacement for centre-back Ivan Ramis, out for the season after injuring a cruciate ligament at Fulham. "We weren't good enough for 30 minutes, but we can rectify that," Martínez said. "Ramis's injury last week cost us today's points."
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