Jordan Henderson pushed West Ham back to the bottom of the Premier League as the Sunderland midfielder’s goal clinched a 1-0 win at the Stadium of Light yesterday.
In the early kick-off, West Bromwich Albion maintained their impressive rise up the Premier League table with a 3-1 win over Newcastle.
The Hammers had moved up into 19th place without playing on Saturday after Wolves’ heavy defeat at Blackburn, but Henderson’s first-half winner ensured Avram Grant’s team finished the weekend back where they started.
Henderson’s strike also secured a first win in three matches which lifted Sunderland into seventh place.
Sunderland boss Steve Bruce hailed Henderson but insisted the youngster still has room for improvement with his finishing.
“He’s a wonderful young talent and arguably his best position could be out wide because he’s got a terrific delivery,” he said.
“We all know he’s got a goal in him and hopefully there’s more to come from him.
“The biggest challenge I have is managing Jordan. He’s played solidly for 18 months so you’re always monitoring him.”
Grant remains confident West Ham can stay up and he said: “I think we have a very good squad to stay up. We showed that in our last two games.
“It’s fair to say that we need to improve, but the gap is not too big.”
At The Hawthorns, Nigeria striker Peter Odemwingie scored twice to inspire West Brom’s 3-1 victory over Newcastle.
Roberto Di Matteo’s side have made a surprisingly big impact following promotion from the Championship last season and they are now in the top eight after Cameroon midfielder Somen Tchoyi and Odemwingie sealed victory.
Peter Lovenkrands got one back for Newcastle in stoppage time but it was too late to stop his team suffering their third defeat in five games.
“I thought we played very well,” Di Matteo told Sky Sports 1. “We scored three great goals and we controlled the game for the majority of the time.
“I think we pressed them quite high up the pitch, we never let them settle in.”
Odemwingie added: “There was an instruction from the coaches that I should stay closer to their defenders because I was all over the place in the first half. So I did that – it’s good sometimes to listen!”
Newcastle defender Sol Campbell was making his 500th Premier League appearance, but the former Arsenal and England star was unable to keep Albion at bay.
Summaries
West Brom 3
Tchoyi 32; Odemwingie 71, 89;
Newcastle 1
Lovenkrands 90;
HT: 1-0. Att: 23,486.
Sunderland 1
Henderson 34;
West Ham 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 36,940.
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