Blackpool v West Ham reaction

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce urged his players to cut out red cards for the good of his health following their 4-1 win at Blackpool.

Last Updated: 22/02/12 at 08:55 Post Comment

Lansbury: Finished the game in goal

Lansbury: Finished the game in goal

For the third game in succession the Hammers had a man sent off when goalkeeper Robert Green committed a professional foul on Roman Bednar in the 53rd minute.

Despite having to call upon on-loan Arsenal midfielder Henri Lansbury between the posts in the absence of a specialist substitute keeper, West Ham returned to the npower Championship summit with ease, edging a point clear of Southampton with a game in hand.

"I thought the lads coped with it exceptionally well and I didn't think they'd cope with it to the level they did," said Allardyce of a result which came on the back of the recent derby win over Millwall and draw against Southampton with reduced numbers.

"Not only did we cope with what Blackpool had to throw at us with the extra man but we started to play, create chances and punish the opposition to the highest order.

"To win 4-1 with 10 men is an outstanding performance. From start to finish it was an outstanding performance from every individual that took part.

"It would have been a great victory 11 v 11, but to have a victory like this 10 v 11 is just outstanding.

"We've won seven points out of nine with 10 men, but we've got to stop it because my heart can't stand it."

Allardyce underwent a minor heart procedure in November 2009 when he was Blackburn manager, forcing him to miss three matches.

Tonight he was critical of referee Oliver Langford for dismissing Green, claiming the official bowed to pressure from Blackpool's players.

"There's not a chance he was last man," he added. "Abdoulaye Faye was round, if not Winston Reid as well.

"I thought the ref buckled under the pressure put on him by Blackpool players surrounding him and baying for the red card. He succumbed to that instead of assessing the situation."

Veteran striker Kevin Phillips was introduced as a first-half substitute for Blackpool as West Ham threatened to run riot following goals from James Tomkins and Nicky Maynard.

The 38-year-old reduced the arrears on the stroke of the interval, but the Seasiders could not make the most of their subsequent man advantage as Gary O'Neil secured victory before Ricardo Vaz Te added deserved gloss to the scoreline in the final minute, joining fellow January recruit Maynard in netting his first goal for the club.

Seasiders boss Ian Holloway admitted his side had been second best in every department as they suffered their first defeat of 2012 and slipped out of the play-off places.

"It was pretty horrendous from our point of view," he said.

"Only one team turned up. In every single way they were better than us, they were more professional than us, they played it in the right way on a difficult surface and we just made mistake after mistake after mistake.

"To be honest, at half-time, God knows what the real score should have been.

"Just about everything that could go wrong did. I felt my lot were caught in the emotion of it, they weren't professional, they didn't get it right and we were beaten by a better team."

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