Beattie brace prolongs West Ham woe

James Beattie scored twice to earn Stoke a 2-1 victory over West Ham here on Saturday as the Hammers’ winless streak stretched to seven league matches.

Beattie struck from the penalty spot after 11 minutes to put the home side ahead before West Ham equalised through England defender Matthew Upson.

The visitors, whose last victory was at Wolverhampton on the season’s opening day, found Stoke goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen in top form and were undone 20 minutes from time when Beattie tucked home his second.

Stoke climb to ninth in the Premier League table, while West Ham remain second from bottom in the relegation places.

Beaten 2-0 by Manchester United in their last home game, Stoke made a storming start at the Britannia Stadium.

Their bold approach brought them three early corners and in the 10th minute their persistence was rewarded when Matthew Etherington won a penalty after being dragged down by auxiliary full-back Julien Faubert.

Beattie smashed the spotkick into the top corner and his strike partner Ricardo Fuller then shot wide from distance, before West Ham responded with a Carlton Cole header that Sorensen did well to save.

England international Cole was forced to plough a lone furrow in the first half as his team-mates struggled to provide him with support but 10 minutes before the interval they levelled when Upson rose unchallenged to head home Mark Noble’s corner.

Gianfranco Zola’s side finished the first 45 minutes strongly and Alessandro Diamanti drew a fine stop from Sorensen early in the second period with a curling effort from the cusp of the penalty area.

Stoke, though, muscled their way back into the match and twice came close to regaining the lead.

First Beattie shot wide from a tight angle despite support from Fuller, before centre-back Ryan Shawcross had a header blocked on the goal-line and then slid the rebound wide from two yards out.

Sorensen came to Stoke’s rescue again to keep out Diamanti’s 25-yard effort and the Danish goalkeeper’s contribution assumed new significance when Beattie notched the winner in the 69th minute after Rob Green had parried a shot from Fuller.

Tony Pulis’s men finished as strongly as they had started, with Beattie and substitute Glenn Whelan both going close to extending their lead.

Stoke defender Robert Huth was fortunate to escape punishment after appearing to strike Upson as they jostled for position prior to a free-kick late on, adding insult to injury for Zola’s sub-par side.