Cardiff 2-0 West Ham: Gritty Bluebirds beat Hammers
Cardiff City
Junior Hoilett's opener was only his third goal of the season
Cardiff City produced a big performance at the right time as they put pressure on their relegation rivals with a vital home victory over a lacklustre West Ham.
The Bluebirds made a perfect start when Junior Hoilett swept home a fine move after just four minutes thanks to some questionable Hammers defending.
They doubled their advantage seven minutes after half time with Victor Camarasa bundling the ball home, and the Bluebirds might have added to that advantage in their most dominant home display of the season.
Declan Rice hit the post for the Hammers with 20 minutes remaining, but Manuel Pellegrini's side never truly looked capable of mounting a comeback, even when Cardiff goalkeeper Neil Etheridge denied Marko Arnautovic.
Relive Cardiff 2-0 West Ham
Live reaction from this afternoon's Premier League games
Bluebirds boost their survival hopes
For Cardiff, there was a sense that this represented a must win occasion, with the Bluebirds' form having turned dramatically recently at the worst possible time.
Wins over Bournemouth and Southampton had taken Cardiff clear of the relegation zone, but they came into this one on the back of three defeats in succession with an aggregate score of 10-1 and having lost their most important defender, Sol Bamba, to a season-ending knee injury.
The Bluebirds do not play for three weeks now and three of their next four matches are against sides in the top six, just adding to the feeling that they had to win this one.
And they made exactly the start they would have hoped for, taking the lead via a fine driving run from Camarasa following his long injury layoff. His clever ball allowed Josh Murphy to cross and Hoilett was able to hook the ball home at the near post as West Ham's defenders stood statuesque around him.
Manager Neil Warnock would scarcely have believed how comfortably his side were able to keep their advantage in a first period of very few chances.
When West Ham did eventually fashion an attempt, striker Javier Hernandez was booked for simulation after Bruno Manga's challenge - a rather apt summary of a toothless first half display.
City started the second half strongly, with Harry Arter shooting wide, and it was no surprise that they doubled their lead on 52 minutes with the same three players involved again.
This time Hoilett and Murphy were the providers. Hoilett crossed, Murphy headed back across the goal and Camarasa was on hand to beat Lukasz Fabianski to the loose ball and bundle home.
Oumar Niasse could have killed the contest when Aron Gunnarsson robbed Manuel Lanzini to send him clean through, but he missed the target.
Fabianski also denied Cardiff with a super double save from Niasse and Camarasa's follow-up.
Cardiff / West Ham
Possession
29%
71%
Shots
16
9
Shots on Target
7
2
Corners
7
5
Fouls
7
12
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