Birmingham City 1-0 West Ham United
Last Updated: Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:23
Lee Bowyer's sixth goal of the season secured the victory for Birmingham as West Ham drop into the bottom three.
The 32-year old netted against his former club on the 52nd minute as he slid a close range shot past a helpless Rob Green.
Birmingham dominated the the first-half but failed to profit from a dire West Ham performance. The visitors failed to create anything with Luis Guillermo Franco isolated up-front and relied on hopeful Alessandro Diamanti shots to trouble Joe Hart.
Gianfranco Zola's side were reduced to ten men after 78 minutes when Mark Noble received his marching orders for his second bookable offence. The dismissal sparked a revival from the East Londoners however and substitute Kieron Dyer saw a shot come back off the post with his first touch of the game. Lone striker Franco forced a wonderful save out of Joe Hart as the hosts clung on to claim all three points.