Costly mistakes see Hammers slip to first defeat of season

Swansea City 3-0 West Ham United

West Ham fell to their first defeat of the season yesterday as Swansea capitalised on a series of mistakes to seal a 3-0 win at the Liberty Stadium.

Full-back Angel Rangel opened the scoring in the first half when his cross-come-shot squirmed under goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Spanish star Michu then doubled the Swans lead after he intercepted a short back pass from James Collins to stroke home confidently.

The game was put to bed mid-way through the second half as Danny Graham finished off an excellent move to maintain the Swans’ 100 per cent start to the season.

For West Ham, it was a disappointing display following their positive opening day win over Aston Villa, with Hammers’ boss Sam Allardyce pointing to key mistakes as the main reason for their downfall.

He told BBC News: “The first half performance was looking very, very good and we were looking comfortable, but we have had two disastrous mistakes, and when you make those sort of errors, particularly away from home, it is going to be difficult to come back.”

“We gifted the opposition the goals and it is difficult to comeback. They have effectively won the game, and can then keep the ball. We have only ourselves to blame.”

West Ham made two changes to the starting XI that beat Aston Villa, with new signing Matt Jarvis and James Tomkins coming in for Matt Taylor and Ricardo Vaz Te.

The Irons started the better of the two sides, with Jarvis showing why Allardyce splashed out £10 million for him as the former Wolves winger sent in an inviting cross which just evaded captain Kevin Nolan.

It was Swansea who took the lead though as Michu’s through ball found Rangel in the penalty box and his ball across the area ricocheted off Jaaskelainen’s arm and found its way into the net.

Swansea were 2-0 up just 10 minutes later as Collins poor back-pass was intercepted by Michu, who nipped in to grab his third goal in English football.

Jarvis nearly reduced the arrears before the break but his volley was well saved by Michael Vorm before Carlton Cole saw his header cleared off the line.

However, Swansea reasserted their dominance in the second half as Graham went close with a low fizzing drive before a Jonathan de Guzman free-kick flashed past the post.

Swansea did grab their third goal shortly after as Graham swept home Nathan Dyer’s cross to send the home fans into raptures and leave Allardyce ruing a series of costly mistakes.

Laurence Taylor, football correspondent