SUNDERLAND v WEST HAM UNITED
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
STADIUM OF LIGHT
SATURDAY 13 DECEMBER 2014
KICK-OFF: 3PM
REFEREE: PHIL DOWD
Final score: Sunderland 1-1 West Ham United
90+5: It's all Sunderland in the dying seconds as Wickham looks to engineer a shooting opportunity. He manages it, of sorts, but his effort flies high and wide of Adrian's goal. With that, the final whistle sounds and West Ham have themselves a hard-fought point here at Sunderland. That's four unbeaten for the Hammers, who remain fourth and move level on points with third-place Manchester United. We'll bring you all the reaction across our platforms, as and when we have it. COYI!
90+3: Back come Sunderland and it's West Ham doing the defending now as Reid has to be alert to intercept a dangerous low ball from the right. He does so expertly and West Ham clear the danger.
90+2: West Ham win another set piece, this time courtesy of Reveillere's clumsy challenge on Carroll. Again, Downing is the man over it and he sends it to the far post this time, where Sakho nods it back across goal. It's beyond Reid who contests it all the same but only succeeds in conceding a free-kick and the hosts clear their lines.
90: There will be a minimum of five added minutes here. Can the Hammers nick it late on?
89: So, so close to a West Ham winner. It comes to Carroll on the edge of the box who instantly side-foots it goalward. Pantilimon is utterly unmoved as the ball drifts agonisingly wide of the near post.
88: Downing sends in the resulting corner but here comes Pantilimon, miles off his line, to attempt to gather. He can't grab it cleanly but Dowd comes to his rescue, awarding the hosts a soft-looking free-kick.
87: West Ham have themselves a free-kick in Sunderland territory, after Carroll is dragged to the ground by Brown. Downing dinks it in and there's Brown again to nod it behind for a West Ham corner.
85: Great save from Adrian. Wickham looks to win it for the hosts when he gets a shooting opportunity in the right channel of the penalty area, following Fletcher's lay-off. His strike is vicious, but the keeper sticks up a hand to push over the top.
82: Meanwhile, Connor Wickham has also gone into the book. Two yellows apiece now.
81: Before the hosts can take the free-kick, Kevin Nolan is withdrawn for Enner Valencia, with Nolan's departure being greeted with predictable boos by the Sunderland fans.
80: Downing goes into referee Dowd's book for chopping down Reveillere on the touchline.
77: Connor WIckham is presented with the chance to cross when a touch inside from the Hammers falls to him 35 yards from goal. Luckily for the visitors it's a poor effort from the striker and the ball sails behind.
73: Fletcher finds himself in the clear all off a sudden and drills low towards Adrian's near post. The West Ham keeper gets down well, though, to block.
72: Sunderland shout for a penalty when Vergini crosses from the right and the ball runs away off Reid. It did strike his arm, but referee Dowd rules it was not deliberate and we play on.
70: Sunderland make their second change, with Ricky Alvarez coming on for Adam Johnson.
69: A good move from the Hammers ends with Nolan spreading the play wide to Cresswell. He crosses and Carroll jumps, but O'Shea jumps well with him and deflects behind for a corner.
66: Corner West Ham and Downing's drilled effort is nodded on by Reid towards goal, but a touch too high and Pantilimon watches it drift over the top.
64: So close West Ham. Sunderland started the second half strongly, but the Hammers appear to have weathered the storm and go so close to moving in front when Carroll heads a Downing cross down to Sakho. He rolls his man, allowing Carroll to collect on the other side. He dinks over Pantilimon, but gets just too much on it and the ball ends up on the top of the net.
62: Sunderland look to their bench, with Steven Fletcher replacing Jozy Altidore up front.
59: Big chance for the Hammers as Downing terrorises the Black Cats again down the left/ They stand off as Cresswell bombs down the left and the No11 slips him in perfectly. Pantilimon stands up tall at the near post, however, to block from the left-back.
56: Johnson's effort is on target, but Adrian is right behind it and fists away. West Ham try to break, but Gomez cynically fouls Downing as he reaches half way and is booked.
55: That corner leads to another, and although it is cleared, Song is penalised for a handball right on the edge of the box as West Ham try to work it cler. Free-kick in a dangerous position.
53: Space opens up for Larsson on the edge of the area as he runs onto a ball inside from Vergini. Kouyate can't get there and the Swede shoots, but West Ham get the block in and Adrian is untroubled.
51: He's back on now and going to continue.
50: Reid is walking slowly to the touchline after receiving treatment, although he's not being replaced yet.
48: As the corner came in, Brown and Reid were grappling for each other for space. Reid went down and Brown accidently caught him on the back of the head with his boot. Reid has to undergo treatment as the Hammers wait to take another corner.
47: Early corner for the Hammers as Jenkinson releases Sakho in the right channel and Reveillere blocks behind.
46: No changes for either side at the break here, with Sakho and Carroll continuing up front for the visitors.
4.03pm We're back underway. Come on you Irons!
3.57pm A look at the half-time stats tells us the Hammers have certainly been peppering the Sunderland goal with shots. We've had ten attempts to Sunderland's four, with six on target to their one.
HT: The half-time whistle goes with the scores level at 1-1. An entertaining half of football with both sides having their chances. West Ham have forced more shots on target than their hosts though and certainly deserve to be level through Stewart Downing's deflected strike. Sunderland's goal was a hotly disputed one as Adam Johnson appeared to go down under the slightest of touches from James Tomkins, giving Jordi Gomez the chance to net from the spot. Join us in 15 minutes for the second half.
45+3: How did he miss? Larsson gets in down the right and crosses low. Altidore just has to finish at the far post from close in, but somehow he contrives to handball it and the Hammers survive..
45+1: Downing is clipped on the edge of the box, giving Sakho the chance to shoot from the free-kick. He gets it on target but not with enough power and Pantilimon saves easily.
45: Two minutes of added time have been shown.
44: Sunderland catch the Hammers out with a quickly-taken free-kick, giving Reveillere space to cross from down the left. He opts to drill low and hard, and the cross-shot skides throug the six-yard box and out for a goal kick.
40: Winston Reid picks up the first booking of the game for felling Altidore as he laid off to Vergini in the right channel. Referee Dowd played advantage and Vergini eventually ran the ball out for a goal kick, but he called Reid back for his booking before the game resumed.
38: Just like against Swansea last week, Sakho's pace is proving to be a useful weapon and he sprints onto a channel ball in the right.Pantilimon half thinks about coming for it, but changes his mind and the No15 fires across goal.
37: The Hammers break and Downing continues to look dangerous. Sakho slides a pass into his path, but he is closed down in time on this occasion, with the shot being blocked at source.
34: Corner for Sunderland as Johnson finds the overlapping Vergini, but Downing tracks back well to slide in and block behind. Johnson delivers, but it comes to nothing.
31: It's a bit frantic again and Johnson's inswinging cross from the right is only just beyond Altidore at the far post.
29: GOAL! Downing! Well we weren't behind for long! Downing collects possession in the right hand channel from Nolan, works the ball onto his left foot and lets fly from 22 yards. Gomez is just in front of him, and the ball takes a nick off his toe and flies past Pantilimon. 1-1.
27: Terrific pace from Sakho to burst onto Song's through ball in the right channel. Downing is busting a gut to get into the box and Sakho spots his run. His low cross looks threatening, and both O'Shea and Brown miss it, but the ball goes just behind Downing and Sunderland escape.
23: Big Sam is livid at Mr Dowd's decision and the referee has to come across to the touchline to have a word. The Hammers manager's frustration is understandable though, as there looked like little to make Johnson to go to ground under Tomkins' challenge.
22: Goal! Sunderland lead 1-0. No mistake from Jordi Gomez, who rolls the ball into the bottom right hand corner with Adrian diving the opposite way.
21: Penalty to Sunderland. The Hammers are in trouble when Reid's heavy touch gives Sunderland the chance to break. They play the ball to Johnson who takes on Tomkins and goes down in the box as the No5 leans into him. It looks harsh, but referee Dowd gives the spot kick.
19: After that flurry of activity in the opening ten minutes, the game has settled down a touch now, although the Hammers will be happy with the space they are being afforded by Sunderland.
16: At the other end, Wickham looks to celebrate signing a new long-term contract with a goal, but is marshalled well by Reid and can only nod Johnson's dangerous cross wide of the target.
15: Jenkinson is looking to influence the game going forward and he receives the ball not far from the Sunderland area. He gets his head down to drift inside Reveillere and drills goalwards, but straight at Pantilimon who gathers into his chest.
11: The home fans aren't happy with Nolan as he loses the ball to Vergini and brings him down. No card from referee Dowd though and we resume with a Sunderland free-kick.
10: Chances flowing now and Downing's inviting cross is nodded over the top by Carroll. Encouraging for the visitors thus far.
9: Danger for the Hammers now as Wickham holds it up well and finds Revilliere bounding down the left. His cross is awakward to deal with on the bounce and Tomkins only helps it on, but Reid finishes the job.
8: Pantilimon is having his palms warmed early on, and he again has to plunge down to the right hand side to cut Sakho's cross-shot out.
6: Another chance for the Hammers as Revilliere heads Song's cross up in the air, presenting Jenkinson with the opportunity, but Pantilimon gets down sharply to his right to push the ball away. Nearly a gift.
5: Alex Song, calm as you like in his own box, carries the ball towards the by-line before engineering space to clear. Sakho picks up the ball in midfield and immediately lays off to Jenkinson. Sakho cotinues his run down the right and looks to pick out Carroll, but the big man can't find the required power in his header and Pantilimon saves.
2: Quiet opening couple of minutes here. Carroll does well to knock Adrian's kick into Downing's path. He plays a slide-rule pass to Cresswell, but his cross is cut out at the near post.
3pm The hosts get us underway. Come on you Irons!
2.58pm The Hammers are clad in their sky and navy blue away kit today, with Sunderland in their traditional red and white stripes.
2.56pm Kevin Nolan leads the Hammers into the arena. It's almost time for action.
2.52pm It's a chilly day here in the north-east, but the 1,700 or so Hammers fans who have travelled will be hoping the action from their team will warm them. Big Sam's men are certainly in good enough form and we'll find out shortly whether we'll be able to keep it up.
2.45pm The Hammers are going for a fourth straight win today and we've got some pre-match stats to whet the appetite.
- Kevin Nolan has scored six Barclays Premier League goals against Sunderland. Only against Aston Villa (7) has he scored more.
- Diafra Sakho has scored four headed goals from just five headers on target in the Barclays Premier League this season.
- 27 points after 15 games is West Ham's best ever return in Premier League history.
- Sunderland have failed to find the back of the net in seven of their last 11 Premier League games and three of their last four.
2.10pm Winston Reid has been speaking with Premier League Productions in the run up to kick-off and this is what he had to say.
"It's going to be a difficult game. It's always tough coming up here to the north, but we'll be doing our best to get three points.
"it has been going well for us. We've won our last three games and the team has been performing, along with us as individuals.
"We're confident, we're high up in the league and we want to continue that."
2.02pm One change for the Hammers, with Diafra Sakho coming in for Enner Valencia. Sakho's appearance from the bench last week yielded a goal and he will be hoping for another at the Stadium of Light.
Gus Poyet also makes one change to his team, with Lee Cattermole in for Liam Bridcutt in midfield.
2pm Team news is in!
Sunderland: Pantilimon, Brown, Cattermole, Larsson, Wickham, Johnson, Gomez, Reveillere, O'Shea (c), Altidore, Vergini
Subs: Mannone, Bridcutt, Rodwell, Fletcher, Alvarez, Coates, Buckley
West Ham United: Adrian, Reid, Cresswell, Nolan (c), Tomkins, Kouyate, Caroll, Downing, Sakho, Jenkinson, Song
Subs: Jaaskelainen, Zarate, O'Brien, Collins, Amalfitano, Cole, Valencia
1.50pm Team news will be with us in ten minutes, so don't forget to enter our #WHULINEUP competition on Twitter!
1.05pm Sunderland boss Gus Poyet is yet another Premier League boss to be effusive in his praise of the Hammers this season.
He said in his programme notes: "West Ham are fourth and we are not talking about just two or three games, we have played 15 so they are so high because of what they have been doing and they deserve to be where they are."
Black Cats skipper John O'Shea is also wary of West Ham's threat.
"West Ham will be full of confidence coming into the match after three straight wins. Not only have they had a good run of late, they have produced the results on the road all season too," he said.
"They will be coming here with a game plan to attack and get the goals to keep their form going."
Good afternoon from the Stadium of Light, where West Ham United are preparing to take on Sunderland today.
We arrive on Wearside looking to extend our winning run to four games, while the Black Cats currently sit in 14th place with 15 points from 15 games.
Gus Poyet's men are looking for their first win in five games, however they have drawn four of those matches, including meetings with Liverpool, Chelsea and Everton.
Sam Allardyce's men are ten places higher, lying in fourth with 27 points. The 3-1 victory over Swansea City was their eighth of the season and the Hammers are now joint third top scorers with Manchester United on 26 goals scored.
We'll have all the build-up to kick-off, with team news expected at 2pm.