West Ham 3-0 Cardiff (Agg 5-0): Convincing victory sends hosts into Championship play-off final
Kevin Nolan and Ricardo Vaz Te were on target before half time as
Sam Allardyce's side booked their place at Wembley Stadium, where they
will face Blackpool or Birmingham City
West Ham booked a place in the Championship play-off final with a comfortable 2-0 win over Cardiff City.
Kevin
Nolan headed the Hammers in front from close range after 15 minutes,
before Ricardo Vaz Te’s emphatic strike as the game approached half-time
gave Sam Allardyce’s side a 4-0 aggregate lead.
Second-half substitute Nicky Maynard completed the rout as the game approached stoppage time with a thunderous effort.
West
Ham will now face the winner of the other semi-final, in which
Blackpool lead Birmingham City 1-0 after the first leg, as they chase a
return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
Cardiff
were pursuing a two-goal deficit but struggled to create chances early
on, though Kenny Miller felt aggrieved when he had a legitimate penalty
claim turned down by referee Mike Dean after being bundled over by
Winston Reid.
And, five minutes later, the Welsh side’s challenge
was made even more difficult as West Ham went in front through Nolan,
who nodded in from virtually under the crossbar after Carlton Cole’s
header from a Matt Taylor corner was blocked.
The home side were controlling possession and
were almost two goals up moments later as Gary O’Neil volleyed a Jack
Collison cross against the bar.
O’Neil was denied again, this
time by David Marshall, who kept out the midfielder’s curling strike
with a superb diving save after good work from Vaz Te.
But there
was nothing Marshall could do about West Ham’s second goal, when Vaz Te
latched onto a Guy Demel pass and blasted into the opposite corner from
inside the penalty area with five minutes of the first half left to
play.
The hosts continued to dominate and Cole headed onto the
roof of the net, with Peter Whittingham’s wayward free kick all Cardiff
could muster in response before the end of what was a deflating 45
minutes of football for Malky Mackay’s side.
It
was a case of more of the same after the break for West Ham, but
Allardyce was forced into a change when Jack Collison left the pitch
with an uncomfortable-looking shoulder injury and was replaced by
Arsenal loanee Henri Lansbury.
The pace of the game slowed as a
result of the change and Cardiff struggled to create any openings in the
same way as they had in the first half, with Miller firing over perhaps
out of frustration with less than 25 minutes remaining for the
visitors’ first chance of the second period.
With one eye on the final and confident that
West Ham could see the game out, Allardyce took off goalscorer Nolan for
George McCartney in order to preserve one of his key figures ahead of a
date at Wembley.
Mackay responded by removing Stephen McPhail
and Kenny Miller for Filip Kiss and Don Cowie with less than 15 minutes
left on the clock.
Cowie felt that he should have been awarded a
penalty when he was brought down by McCartney, but match official Dean
again waved away appeals.
It took Cardiff 81 minutes to have
their best chance on goal as Liam Lawrence tried his luck from 20 yards,
but shot harmlessly wide as the Welsh side’s play-off charge fizzled
out.
Maynard, a late substitute, finished off the tie by firing
beyond Marshall into the top corner after a clever pass from Lansbury.
Source : Goal.com
