Hammers end Dalglish's unbeaten run

West Ham United's Mark Noble (R) tackles Liverpool's Brazilian player Lucas Leiva during their Premier League football match at Upton Park in London. West Ham won 3-1.

Liverpool's unbeaten run of eight matches under Kenny Dalglish came to an end on Sunday as West Ham earned a deserved 3-1 victory over them to move off the bottom of the Premier League table.
Goals by inspirational captain Scott Parker, recent signing Demba Ba and a reinvigorated Carlton Cole were more than enough to see off a Liverpool side whose only response was a late effort by Glen Johnson.
Parker's effort was even more remarkable given that a training ground accident on Saturday had left him highly doubtful to play as he fell on his shoulder and couldn't even walk.
"Scott is a special guy. The spirit he showed was great," said appreciative Hammers manager Avram Grant.
"Three hours before the game, we thought there was no way he would play.
"It was a bad, bad injury. He couldn't walk or move his arms.
"The medical department were sure he couldn't play, but they did a good job and gave him 24 hours of treatment.
"He needed more than an injection, but the medical department did brilliantly with him.
"He's the type of player I like: he always gives 100percent, is always positive.
"I like some of the things from old-fashioned play. That's what they did in the olden days. They gave everything."
Parker - whose rousing half-time talk a fortnight ago had been credited for inspiring the Hammers to come back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 with fellow relegation strugglers West Brom - struck just after the 20 minute mark with a nice effort.

Liverpool's manager Kenny Dalglish awaits kick off against West Ham United during a Premier League football match at Upton Park in London. West Ham won 3-1.

Ba - who scored a brace in the West Brom match - then added to the hosts' lead with a fine header from Gary O'Neil's cross.
The Hammers dominated much of the match as the midfield axis of Parker and German international midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger - who only made his debut for them last Monday after being out injured since signing last June - ran affairs and gives real hope they can escape the drop should both stay fit.
Liverpool reduced the deficit when Johnson tapped in with six minutes remaining but Cole assuaged any home fans' fears of a comeback by the visitors as he restored the two goal advantage shortly afterwards and record only their sixth league win of the campaign.
The win will have given some pleasure to co-owner David Gold, who was unable to be at the match as the 74-year-old is in hospital being treated for septicaemia and an inflamed bile duct.
"I want to wish him all the best and to get well. He's a good guy, and I'm sure he enjoyed the game today," said Grant.
Grant, who experienced a topsy turvy season last year with Portsmouth reaching the FA Cup final but being relegated amid a financial crisis, said that the race for survival was the most open he had ever experienced.
"We are coming now to the last 10 games of the season.
"I don't remember a situation where the team who are bottom could still end up 10th. It's so tight."
Dalglish accepted that his side had not been the better side.
"We never passed it as well as we can or took the opportunities that came our way," said the 60-year-old Scot, whose side in mitigation had played on Thursday seeing off Sparta Prague in the Europa League.
"The last 20 or 25 minutes, we started to play a wee bit like we can. We got the goal near the end and we thought we might steal a point.
"There were a couple of shouts for a penalty, things that are outside our control that you can't manage, but we'll try to correct the mistakes we made."