West Ham United produced a herculean defensive display to earn a hard-fought 2-1 win away to West Bromwich Albion tonight.

Craig Dawson opened the scoring on 10 minutes, but two goals from Kevin Nolan and James Tomkins helped turn the game on its head and inflict a fourth straight defeat on the Baggies.

Alan Irvine's side threw the kitchen sink at their London counterparts in a bid to restore parity, but a staunch defensive performance from the visitors earned them victory.

Here, Sports Mole sorts the heroes from the villains from tonight's clash.

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Goal

Ben Foster: Criticised over his performances as of late, Foster could do very little about both goals tonight and had virtually nothing to do in what proved a very quiet second half for him. (7/10)

Defence

Andre Wisdom: Coped well with the in-form Downing on the right-hand side of defence but did concede possession on a few occasions. Overall a decent enough display from the Liverpool loanee. (6/10)

Craig Dawson: Opened the scoring but that contribution was diminished after allowing Tomkins to climb over him for West Ham's second goal just before half time. (6/10)

Joleon Lescott: Produced one or two crucial headers that the lurking Carroll would have otherwise connected with. Pretty solid performance from the England international. (7/10)

Chris Baird: Forced to operate left-back again due to injuries to other personnel and still looks a little ropey in his unfavoured position, and allowed Nolan to run beyond him to head home West Ham's all-important equaliser. (4/10)

Midfield

Craig Gardner: Largely ineffective for the entire 65 minutes that he had on the field. One or two hopeful shots, but they never got anywhere near Adrian in the West Ham goal. (4/10)

Graham Dorrans: Bagged a fine assist for Dawson's opener, but his delivery was not as on-point as it should've been throughout. (5/10)

Chris Brunt: Only lasted 45 minutes before going off with a suspected groin injury. He was booked for fouling Nolan to concede the free kick that led to the goal, which looked a harsh decision by referee Mike Jones. (5/10)

Stephane Sessegnon: Quiet first half but comfortably the Baggies' stand-out player in the second 45 minutes and, had they equalised, it would have come through him. Unlucky to be on the losing side. (7/10)

Attack

Victor Anichebe: Enjoyed a fine first half display, tormenting Tomkins regularly and, despite dipping in the second half, had his team's best chance for an equaliser but fluffed his lines. Promising overall, though. (6/10)

Saido Berahino: Started out wide in a bizarre call by Alan Irvine and never really got going. Drifted centrally for the second half but still did not look like the player he was earlier in the season. (5/10)

Substitutes

Youssouf Mulumbu: Replaced Brunt on the stroke of half time and produced a pretty decent performance in the middle of midfield. Might have felt unlucky to be on the bench and played like he had a point to prove. (6/10)

Silvestre Varela: Some good touches on what was his Premier League debut, but Jenkinson barely give him a sniff. (4/10)

Brown Ideye: The stage was set for the Baggies' club-record signing to come to the rescue, but there wasn't anything heroic about his cameo tonight. Still, it was his first appearance three months, and he only had seven minutes to make an impact. (4/10)

Goal

Adrian: Blameless for the goal and only really had one meaningful shot to save in the 90 minutes, but showed a strong wrist to keep out Anichebe's fierce low drive. (6/10)

Defence

Carl Jenkinson: Did well to shackle Berahino in the first half but did not have the same joy with Sessegnon after the break. Stuck to Varela like glue once he came on, though. (6/10)

James Tomkins: Endured a nightmare first 20 minutes after conceding the free kick which led to West Brom's opener, before losing Dawson for the goal itself. However, made amends to head West Ham into the lead. (7/10)

Winston Reid: Made the same mistake as his centre-back partner after getting too close to Anichebe in the second half, eventually allowing the Nigerian a goalscoring opportunity, but Adrian spared his blushes. Solid other than that. (6/10)

Aaron Cresswell: Enjoyed a very quiet 90 minutes against the anonymous Gardner on the right wing, but did not get forward as much as he perhaps would've liked after scoring at the weekend. (6/10)

Midfield

Cheikhou Kouyate: Bossed the midfield in both halves; especially the second half, when West Brom were forced to try their luck on the flanks after the middle had not proved a fruitful avenue. (7/10)

Kevin Nolan: Excellent return to the starting lineup for the veteran midfielder, picking up a well deserved goal. Dipped in the second half, but still provided plenty of food for thought for Sam Allardyce. (7/10)

Morgan Amalfitano: Impressed in spells throughout the first half but never did it consistently. (5/10)

Stewart Downing: Started on the left wing tonight instead of his newly-acquired central role, but Allardyce will be reluctant to field him there again after a mixed performance. Bagged an assist, but precious little to write home about. (5/10)

Attack

Mauro Zarate: He buzzed around a bit and dipped into his bag of tricks at times, but very little of substance from the Argentine tonight. (4/10)

Andy Carroll: Can only eat what he is being fed, and lacked the type of service from the wide areas that a striker of his ilk thrives on. However, his spectacular overhead kick did lead to West Ham's equaliser. (6/10)

Substitutes

James Collins: Helped shore up the defence at a time when the visitors were looking vulnerable. Good tactical move by Allardyce. (6/10)

Enner Valencia: His first game in a month due to injury and did not look as sharp as he has been in other games this season. (4/10)

Written by
Shane Callaghan