City limits exposed by Hammers
Now, successive games against the same opponents have injected a sober dose of realism and revealed the limitations of the Swede’s over-achieving side.
For the second time in four days Eriksson’s team was shown to be bereft of the wit and creativity that has kept them firmly in the race to finish fourth and while a single-goal victory in the midweek FA Cup tie helped disguise City’s flaws, yesterday’s performance offered no such smokescreen.
That Eriksson’s side avoided a first home defeat of the season was largely due to the excellence of goalkeeper Joe Hart a well-drilled defensive unit and a dubious decision that allowed Darius Vassell’s 16th minute equaliser to stand despite the forward standing in an offside position in the six-yard area immediately before the ball fell at his feet.
The manager made no attempt to cover up his side’s failings and made it clear he will increase his efforts to inject fresh blood into his squad during the final two weeks of the transfer window.
“I don’t think we can complain about a point today because West Ham were the best team,” said Eriksson, who has been linked witha €7.5million move for Julio Baptista.
“Attacking wise I don’t think we were very good today. We should do better with the players we have. I would like to make signings this month and I know the owner does too.”
Everton’s victory at Wigan earlier in the day means City now lie fifth, two points behind David Moyes’ side and a point above Liverpool and Aston Villa who face each other at Anfield tonight.
But while Eriksson attempted to downplay expectations, there is little doubt that anything less than a place in next season’s UEFA Cup will be seen as a huge disappointment.
“Fourth place isn’t our sole target,” insisted Eriksson. “If we play in Europe next season we will be very happy and if not, we will get there the season after. We will try for fourth place but if we don’t make it, we won’t be too depressed about that.”
West Ham will be one of those teams hoping to capitalise on a loss of form among the leading pack. Alan Curbishley’s side now lie tenth and the intense frustration of Vassell’s goal notwithstanding, the manager had every right to believe the second half of the season could bring even greater reward.
“The run-in starts now for us,” said Curbishley. “We have had to chop and change all season but I think if we can get one or two back, we’d like to think we can finish in the top eight.”
Just as they had done four days previously, West Ham started the brighter of the two sides, the principle difference being, however, that this time the visitors made the early pressure count and they were ahead after just eight minutes thanks to a marvellous piece improvisation from Carlton Cole.
The origin of the goal, though, lay in an uncharacteristic error from the normally unflappable Richard Dunne, who inexplicably attempted to pass the ball out of a dangerous area and succeeded only in gifting possession to Mark Noble. who immediately moved play out to Freddie Ljungberg on the right.
The Swede’s cross appeared to hold little danger as it was deflected up into the air but Cole reacted superbly to connect with a neat overhead kick that caught Joe Hart unawares.
It was West Ham’s first goal in six meetings with City and having nosed ahead, their priority should have been to consolidate.
Instead they relinquished the lead just eight minutes later and while the visitors could justifiably claim Darius Vassell’s goal should have been ruled out for offside, the route cause of the equaliser was West Ham’s failure to deal with a routine cross from Martin Petrov that ricocheted twice before landing at the feet Vassell who rolled the ball into the net from three yards out.
Momentarily it appeared as though this could be a contest of some substance. However, those hopes were quickly extinguished during the remainder of the first half when misplaced passes and a glaring lack of quality from both sides.
The second half improved considerably with West Ham again carving out the better opportunities, including two that feel to the impressive midfielder Mark Noble.
But City, and in particular Hart, stood firm and their home record remained in tact.
Hart 8, Corluka 7, Richards 7, Dunne 5, Ball 6, Vassell 5 (Fernandes 58, 5), Hamann 6, Ireland 5 (Geovanni 68, 5), Petrov 6, Elano 5 (Garrido 78, 5), Bianchi 5.
Subs Not Used: Isaksson, Onuoha, Garrido.
Green 6, Neill 5, Ferdinand 6, Upson 7, McCartney 7, Ljungberg 7, Noble 9, Mullins 8, Bowyer 7 (Spector 90, 5), Boa Morte 5 (Faubert 71, 5), Cole 8.
Subs Not Used: Wright, Spector, Collins, Reid.
Phil Dowd (Staffordshire) 7: Was let down by his assistant referee who failed to spot Darius Vassell standing in an offside position for City’s equaliser but otherwise handled the game well
** This is the fourth time the sides have faced each other this season and nobody will mourn the fact that they cannot meet again until next August at the earliest. West Ham at least showed some enterprise but City’s deficiencies up front were all too apparent.