Bolton 3 West Ham 1
West Ham's dreadful December continued as they slumped to a 3-1 defeat at Bolton last night.
Irons' goalkeeper Robert Green has to shoulder a large part of the blame for the loss, at fault for two of the home side's goals as the Hammers plunged into the relegation zone.
Green fumbled a shot from Gary Cahill on 77 minutes, when the England stopper should have held it comfortably, and Ivan Klasnic stabbed the loose ball home.
That put Bolton 2-1 ahead. Earlier Alessandro Diamanti had cancelled out Chung-Yong Lee's 64th minute opener but there was always the sense that West Ham, short of players and confidence, were living on borrowed time.
The Irons misery was compounded in the 88th minute when Cahill rose unchallenged - with Green rooted to his line - to power home a header from a corner.
To add to the Hammers woes Kieron Dyer lasted just 21 minutes before limping off with yet another injury and is rated very doubtful for Sunday's visit from league leaders Chelsea.
Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Robinson, Cahill, Knight, Steinsson, Muamba, Taylor (Gardner, 76), Cohen, Lee, Davies, Klasnic (Basham, 82). Unused subs: Al Habsi, Samuel, Ricketts, O'Brien, Elmander.
Booked: Muamba, Cohen, Davies, Klasnic.
Goals: Lee 64, Klasnic 77, Cahill 88
West Ham: Green, Faubert, Ilunga, Gabbidon, Tomkins, Parker, Dyer (Stanislas, 21), Kovac, Collison (Da Costa, 87), Franco, Diamanti. Unused subs: Kurucz, Spector, Daprela, Payne, Nouble.
Booked: Franco
Goal: Diamanti 69
Attendance: 17,849
Referee: Andre Marriner
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