West Ham 3 Hull City 0

Hull didn't help themselves with some erratic defending, while the loss of Craig Fagan to a harsh sending off and Anthony Gardner to a serious leg injury further undermined their cause.

But that shouldn't detract from what was, on the whole, a confident display from the Hammers, bolstered by Behrami's third minute goal.

The Swiss midfielder picked up a pass from Radoslav Kovac, who had robbed Tom Cairney in the middle of the Hull half, and played the ball to Guille Franco on the edge of the box.

The Mexican forward took a heavy touch but the ball bounced kindly for Behrami, who had continued his run into the box, and he calmly slotted it past Boaz Myhill.

Behrami, who has been linked with a move from the Hammers in the summer, proved his worth throughout the game, linking intelligently with his forwards and proving a dynamic presence down the right flank.

He brought a fine save from Myhill in the 24th minute when the Hull keeper parried his fierce shot away and four minutes later saw the stopper claw his far post header clear with the goal beckoning.

Although West Ham were the better team in the first period Hull had their moments, notably when George Boateng's shot just before half time forced Rob Green to pull off a spectacular save.

The visitors started the second period brightly, presumably having had a roasting from manager Phil Brown during the interval, but the complexion of the game changed in the 53rd minute.

Fagan, booked in the first half for a foul on Scott Parker, made minimal contact with Alessandro Diamanti on the left touchline, close to the halfway line. The Italian went down theatrically and referee Martin Atkinson had no hesitation in brandishing a second yellow, followed by a red.

It looked a mistake, but it proved pivotal as West Ham made their numerical advantage count six minutes later when Faubert played a fine through ball for Cole to gallop onto and the England striker produced a cool finish, low to Myhill's right, to make it 2-0.

Brown rang the changes and made a triple substitution on 65 minutes, hauling off Cairney, Stephen Hunt and Amr Zaki, but it proved another costly decision for the Tigers.

Gardner, challenging Matthew Upson for a header in the 79th minute fell awkwardly and never got back on his feet. After lengthy treatment he was stretchered off, leaving Hull to defend the last 10 minutes with just nine men.

And it was Faubert, who finally seems to be settling into his right-back role - where he can use his pace to maraud forward - put the icing on the Irons cake when he rifled home a shot from the edge of the box in injury time.

Hammers' manager Gianfranco Zola was delighted with the win, although admitted he was getting concerned at one point.

He said: "It was very professional. When there was a little bit of doubt in the game it was because we allowed those doubts. I'm talking about the last five minutes of the first half.

"They came back and had a couple of chances because we made it easy for them. Other than that we controlled the game very well.

"We are getting better and better and it was an excellent game for us."

Zola will be hoping for another excellent game in more testing circumstances against Manchester United tomorrow.

West Ham: Green, Faubert, Spector, Upson, Tomkins, Parker, Kovac, Behrami, Diamanti (Collison, 80), Cole (Mido, 74), Franco (Ilan, 63). Unused subs: Stech, Noble, Da Costa, Stanislas.

Booked: Parker

Goals: Behrami 3, Cole 59, Faubert 90+3

Hull: Myhill, Dawson, Gardner, McShane, Mouyokolo, Fagan, Hunt (Barmby,65), Boateng, Cairney (Altidore, 65), Zaki (olofinjana, 65), Vennegoor of Hesselink. Unused subs: Duke, Garcia, Kilbane, Zayatte.

Booked: Fagan

Sent off: Fagan

Attendance: 33,971

Referee: Martin Atkinson