West Ham United have moved up to fifth in the Premier League table for the time being thanks to a narrow 1-0 win over lowly Sunderland.
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It was a windy afternoon in East London and both teams struggled to put together any free-flowing moves early on on a bobbly Boleyn Ground pitch.
The first moment of note was in the 19th minute when Hammers captain Mark Noble pinged a 25-shot at goal and Vito Mannone fingertipped the ball onto the underside of the crossbar.
Not long after Sunderland then hit the woodwork through Wahbi Khazri, whose free kick from 25 yards dipped over Adrian in the West Ham goal and onto the top of the crossbar.
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The hosts then took the lead on the half-hour mark through Michail Antonio, who won the ball off Patrick van Aanholt and then cut inside past two green shirts before picking out the far corner with a low curling strike.
Antonio then tested Mannone with an inventive left-footed volley, but that was the only other noteworthy incident in a slow-going opening period.
Sunderland started the second half well and former West Ham striker Jermain Defoe spurned a great chance to equalise when he fired wide after James Collins had misjudged Lee Cattermole's ball over the top.
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The match really opened up in the final 20 minutes and Sunderland were guilty of missing several good opportunities to earn something to take back to Wearside.
Jack Rodwell squandered the best of the lot as his close-range effort was saved by Adrian before Dame N'Doye also failed to beat the West Ham stopper.
Down the other end West Ham, who have now gone 13 matches in all competitions without defeat, were centimetres from killing the game off when substitute Andy Carroll cracked a volley against the bar.
The hosts held out for three points that move them up to fifth for the time being, while Sunderland stay 19th and miss the chance to get out of the drop zone.
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