Ten-man West Ham United came out on top of their London derby encounter with Millwall at Upton Park this afternoon.
The Hammers were forced to play 82 minutes a man light following the dismissal of Kevin Nolan. The West Ham skipper went into a challenge with Jack Smith using both feet and was sent off for his actions.
Despite having a numerical disadvantage, the home side took the lead into the break. Carlton Cole was the scorer, flicking a header from Winston Reid past David Forde from close range in the first minute of stoppage time.
Visiting Millwall came out for the second half with a more positive formation and made their pressure count in the 65th minute. Darius Henderson capitalised on some slack defending from Abdoulaye Faye to pull the ball back to the edge of the area. Liam Trotter took control on his chest before looping the ball over Robert Green in goal.
Parity was only restored for two minutes though, with defender Reid shooting into top right corner of the net following a goalmouth scramble.
Millwall full-back Alan Dunne had Millwall's best chance to claim a point, but one effort went wide of goal, while Green was able to parry the second to safety.
West Ham now hold a five-point advantage over Southampton at the top of the Championship.
Liam Apicella
