A late goal from Diafra Sakho gave Sam Alladryce's West Ham United a crucial win over struggling Sunderland on Saturday night as they chase a top-half of the table finish.

The game began slowly and it took a while for any action to even occur. The first call came on the 6th minute when Jermain Defoe went down on the edge of the box looking for a free-kick but, referee Lee Mason refused to give the decision Sunderland’s way despite the fact Defoe was clearly being held by Aaron Cresswell as the striker tried to run onto a Connor Wickham flick.

Sunderland’s Wickham was the player who had the next chance as Defoe played the ball across the box into the English striker. Wickham provided excellent chest control for his first touch and hit a left footed volley towards goal which Adrian coolly pushed away.

Dick Advocaat was dealt an early blow when Wes Brown picked up a knock in the 10th minute after he tried to head clear a West Ham free-kick, and was forced off. Striker Diafra Sakho seemed to have trodden on the defender and Advocaat was forced into an early substitution, bringing on Santiago Vergini in Brown's place.

In the 15th minute, Sunderland carried on their early attacking play with a perfectly timed run by Defoe who ended up missing a gilt-edged chance. The 32-year-old was played through by a brilliant flick by Steven Fletcher but, the striker tried to take the shot on a first-time volley and hit it high and wide.

West Ham started to come into the game as Sakho created a chance out of nothing as he flicked the ball passed Patrick van Aanholt and somehow kept it on. He passed the ball back to Kevin Nolan but there was not much to aim at from his position, and the opportunity came to nothing.

Sakho almost headed the Hammers in front just one minute later. Cresswell made an encouraging attacking run from the back and lobbed the ball into the box where Sakho was, he headed the ball towards Pantilimon’s goal but the finish was inches wide of his left post.

Sunderland seemed to crumble as West Ham were taking control of the game around the 20 minute mark. The side took a corner from the left-wing, which Pantilimon struggled to deal with. The referee called a foul inside the box and the Sunderland defence breathed a sigh of relief as they were in trouble.

Goalkeeper Pantilimon received a knock in the 25th minute by Sakho as the duo collided trying to get onto the end of an Aaron Cresswell cross. They both lay on the ground for a small amount of time but both of them seemed to stand back up and neither were injured.

West Ham almost went ahead in the 32nd minute as Alex Song took a first-time shot from 35 yards out, after the ball deflected to him. He hit it with vigour and Pantilimon saw it late but, the 6ft 8in was able to get down and push the ball wide.

The Romanian goalkeeper came to Sunderland’s aid once again two minutes later as Matt Jarvis whipped in a troubling cross towards Nolan and the keeper used his initiation and stepped a yard forward and caught the ball. Nolan clashed with the Sunderland Number one after Sebastian Larsson seemed to impede his run.

The game fell quiet for almost ten minutes with the teams matching each other pass-for-pass. In the 43rd minute, West Ham hit a corner into the box and it was headed by Chiekhou Kouyate who should have done better with his clear chance but he headed the wide.

In the second-half. The play was a bit tame in the opening minutes and Sakho was the first player to have a real chance as in the 52nd minute after Cresswell whipped in a cross from deep. Sakho almost guided his header into the bottom right corner of the goal, but could not find the back of the net.

With both sides sloppy in possession, the game was not the most entertaining. In the 63rd minute, a West Ham free-kick was hit into the Sunderland box and John O’Shea mistimed his header as it went closer to his own goal, but luckily Kevin Nolan was flagged offside. If the offside call wasn’t made, a penalty would have had to be given as Vergini had his hands around Nolan’s chest and the Englishman went to the ground.

West Ham started attacking the game again after that chance. In the 67th minute; Downing had a chance saved which was from the outside of the Sunderland box, but Pantilimon easily saved the ball in the centre of his goal.

In the 73rd minute, Adam Johnson made his first appearance since his controversial arrest, coming on for Steven Fletcher - but the game remained largely dull.

The game briefly burst into life in the 77th minute when Van Aanholt nearly fired Sunderland into the lead with a 25-yard effort and Adrian had to save it and touched the ball wide of the right post.

The Hammers managed to trouble the Sunderland defence once again as they kept the ball around the edge of the 18-yard box but every shot they tried was deflected and pushed away from goal.

West Ham made a substitution which should be familiar with the London club's fans this year, as Sam Allardyce brought on Nene for Nolan. Nene has now come off the bench for the Hammers for the last four games, and the sub almost made an instant impact as he took a right-footed shot from the centre of the box but the shot ended up being blocked and eventually cleared.

The Hammers should have had a penalty on the 85th minute as the ball was crossed towards Carlton Cole, who missed the ball, and Adam Johnson seemed to guide his arm towards the balls path.

The deadlock was finally broken in the 88th minute as Mark Noble and Nene provided brilliant build up play and the ball fell to Sakho’s right-foot. The striker hit the ball well, sending a shot across the goal and into the bottom corner to give his side victory.

The loss leaves Sunderland just one point above the relegation zone, whilst West Ham are up to 9th position in the Premier League table.

West Ham United (1) Sunderland (0)
Adrian 6 Pantilimon 6
Jenkinson 6 Reveillere 5
Collins 4 O'Shea 5
Kouyate 5 Brown -
Cresswell 7 Van Aanholt 5
Song 5 Larsson 5
Noble 6 Rodwell 4
Downing 5 Gomez 4
Nolan 5 Fletcher 5
Jarvis 6 Defoe 5
Sakho 8 Wickham 6
Substitutions:
Cole 7 Vergini 5
Nene 5 Johnson 5
O'Brien 5 Graham 4
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About the author
Jake Parker
Jake is an 19-year-old Sports Journalist at Staffordshire University who joined this site in March 2015. He writes about the Premier League, and predominantly Manchester United. He is also a follower of his hometown club, Fleetwood Town. Twitter - @jakelewisparker.