Goals from Hayden Mullins and Bobby Zamora early in each half gave Hammers a deserved 2-1 victory against Norwich City in the FA Cup third round at Carrow Road.
Alan Pardew made five changes to the team that started Monday's 3-1 defeat against Chelsea. Goalkeeper Roy Carroll and midfielder Yossi Benayoun were both ruled out with thigh strains and were replaced by Shaka Hislop and Shaun Newton, while Tomas Repka, Danny Gabbidon and Zamora all returned in place of Christian Dailly, Anton Ferdinand and Carl Fletcher.
Hammers made the perfect start, taking the lead after just five minutes. Matthew Etherington's pass on the left found Zamora, who cut inside a defender and laid the ball back towards the edge of the penalty area. Etherington's clever dummy set up Mullins, whose first time shot flew in off the post.
The opener came with Hammers temporarily down to 10 men, after Paul Konchesky had been forced off in the opening moments for treatment on a head injury, and the left-back came close to adding a second goal shortly after his return to the field, firing a fierce effort wide of the target.
Norwich were handed a half-chance on 15 minutes when Shaka Hislop dropped a high cross at the feet of Etuhu, but the midfielder sliced his shot high over the bar, and Hammers were soon on the attack again, Zamora's low cross almost being turned into his own net by Doherty.
Hammers settled down after that into a controlled rhythm and enjoyed the lion's share of possession without really threatening to double their lead. Norwich looked severely bereft of attacking creativity without the key influence of Darren Huckerby and Dean Ashton, and Hislop dealt comfortably with their only shot on target in the first half, a long-range tester from Jason Jarrett.
Marlon Harewood forced a save out of Robert Green five minutes before the break, and the half-time whistle blew with Hammers in full control against their Championship opponents.
Half-time: Norwich City 0 West Ham United 1.
Hammers came out for the second half showing a determination to kill the game off, and came close to adding a second goal on THREE separate occasions within five minutes of the restart. First Zamora curled a right-foot shot inches past the post, then Harewood slotted Etherington's low-cross into the side-netting and moments later met Zamora's inch-perfect cross to produce a superb acrobatic volley that clipped the post and went out for a goal-kick.
Konchesky then saw a fierce 20-yard free-kick deflected just wide of the target and, with Hammers dominating completely, it was no surprise when the lead was eventually doubled on 57 minutes. Some good exchanges between Harewood and Etherington saw the winger send in a deceiving cross-shot that Green could only manage to palm down on to his goalline, where the stooping Zamora was on hand to head home.
Norwich then rallied in an attempt to produce a comeback but again lacked the quality to cause Hammers any real problems in the final third. On 67 minutes, Alan Pardew introduced Carl Fletcher in place of goalscorer Mullins, as the visitors attempted to close the game down and enjoy a smooth passage to the fourth round.
However, just moments later, the hosts were thrown a lifeline when a long pass into the Hammers box was contested by striker Peter Thorne and James Collins, who appeared to handle the ball as it dropped six yards out. Referee Mike Riley had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, and Paul McVeigh stepped up to slam the ball home from 12 yards.
That ensured a nervy final 15 minutes for Hammers, and Christian Dailly was brought on in place of Etherington to add some steel to the midfield, before Pards handed a debut to new signing Yaniv Katan with 10 minutes remaining.
The Israeli striker almost got on the end of Konchesky's inswinging free-kick in the 85th minute, before the game ended on an unfortunate note when Norwich goalkeeper Green was stretchered off following an accidental collision with Harewood. There was some worry as Green was attended to by both club physios and a number of other medics, but thankfully the England stopper didn't appear to be in serious danger.
That delay led to the fourth official declaring seven minutes of time added on, and there was still time for Harewood to see a shot turned round the post by substitute keeper Darren Ward, before the final whistle eventually blew to signal a place in the fourth round for Alan Pardew's men.