West Ham United's hopes of automatic promotion have taken a blow after they drew 1-1 with struggling Bristol City at Ashton Gate this evening.
The visitors thought that they had taken the lead after just 20 minutes when Ricardo Vaz Te appeared to have continued his good recent goalscoring form, only for the referee to pull play back for a handball by Kevin Nolan.
The Hammers wouldn't have to wait long to break the deadlock, however, as Mark Noble's free kick found James Tomkins, and the defender nodded his side ahead.
City were level less than five minutes later after a mistake from Rob Green allowed Cole Skuse to poke the ball home.
West Ham pushed for a winner throughout the second half, Henri Lansbury coming close with a curling effort, but the City defence refused to budge.
The result leaves the Hammers third in the Championship table, now five points behind second-placed Southampton, while Bristol City took a step towards survival as they moved five points clear of both Portsmouth and Coventry.
Barney Corkhill
