Bolton Wanderers 4 - 0 West Ham United

Bolton 4-0 West Ham: Speed plays 500th game

Updated: December 9, 2006, 7:31 PM UK

Gary Speed marked a record 500th Premier League appearance by having a hand in three of Bolton's goals as they crushed West Ham 4-0.

The 37-year-old veteran was rightly given a standing ovation when he came off with two minutes to go after a midfield master class.

Speed was the driving force behind a comfortable victory secured by goals from Kevin Davies (2), El-Hadji Diouf and Nicolas Anelka.

West Ham have now lost eight out of nine matches on the road and manager Alan Pardew must be concerned about their plight.

Bolton bossed the game after a poor run themselves that had seen the team fail to score in five out of seven league matches

• Speed happy with points

Anelka set the tone after 10 minutes when he had the home fans on their feet. He latched on to a pass from El-Hadji Diouf 25 yards out, but his effort cleared the bar.

Then the #8million buy worked a clever opening for himself, only to scuff his shot wide of the post.

Anelka was coming more into the game and tried to release Davies four minutes later, but his cross found the arms of Hammers goalkeeper Robert Green.

Bolton made the breakthrough after 17 minutes and Speed marked his record appearance by having a hand in the goal.

The Welshman's header found Diouf and he clipped the ball back into the area with Davies applying the finishing touch.

Bolton kept up the pressure and Green did well to block Kevin Nolan's effort in the 27th minute after Anelka had carved out the opening.

Davies was growing in confidence and flicked on a throw-in from Pedersen, but Green was able to make the save.

West Ham were struggling to make an impact and Matthew Etherington tried to pick out Dailly at the back post with a free kick in the 36th minute. However, Davies showed he can defend as well as attack and got in a crucial header.

Diouf squandered a good chance of adding to Bolton's lead in the 40th minute when Henrik Pedersen swung in a cross from the left.

The Senegal international escaped his marker but only succeeded in sending his header from close range over the bar.

Referee Howard Webb took immediate steps to quell a dispute between Campo and West Ham's Nigel Reo-Coker at the start of the second half by booking both players.

Bolton made it 2-0 in the 51st minute with Davies again on target after after James Collins had deflected Anelka's shot to safety. Speed swung in the corner and Campo headed the ball on for Davies, who reacted instantly to knock it past Green.

Marlon Harewood almost pulled a goal back a minute later when he got clear in the area, but he dragged his effort across the face of the goal with Jussi Jaaskelainen out of position .

Bolton looked well in control at this stage with Davies anxious to get a hat-trick.

They extended their lead in the 77th minute with a marvellous individual goal from Diouf, who weaved his way into the penalty area, leaving a couple of players in his wake, before clipping a right foot shot beyond Green.

A minute later Anelka got in on the act with another clever finish to make it 4-0 after Speed had slipped the ball into his path.

Campo then hit the post in stoppage time with the Hammers again on the back foot.

Sped happy with points

Gary Speed admitted his record 500th Premier League appearance was 'secondary' to Bolton's emphatic 4-0 win over West Ham.

Kevin Davies scored a brace while El-Hadji Diouf and Nicolas Anelka were also on target.

West Ham were outclassed and look set for a relegation battle after their eighth defeat in nine away matches.

Speed said: 'We needed to get back to winning ways and the stuff surrounding my 500th appearance was secondary compared to the three points today.

'Our finishing in the final third has not been great in recent weeks but we've worked hard on that in training and it has come off.

'It's something we need to build on. We've back amongst the top five but it's up to us to try to stay there and carry today's performance into the next few games.'

Goalscorer Davies echoed Speed's thoughts and admitted the result was timely as they seek to maintain a push for European football.

'We needed that, we've been on a bad run lately,' he told Prem Plus.

'Winning 4-0 at home gets us back on track. We've been missing that quality in the final third in recent weeks but it came off today.

'The table looks a lot better now; it was an important win for us today.'

Bolton chief Allardyce admitted the improvement in his side's finishing was particularly pleasing.

He said: 'I'm absolutely delighted because having beaten Arsenal we went into the Chelsea game and lost, went into the Reading game and lost that and we've found goals difficult to come by.

'To get four today, with the front three scoring all the goals, was terrific.

'It wasn't as easy as it looked, West Ham put up a good fight in the second half. It was the quality of the finishing that finally finished West Ham.

'The front three clicked well today, I've been critical of those three with the chances they have missed but they got it right today and I hope we can continue that.

'It's a big victory. Hopefully it gives us the confidence to go on a run,' he said.

Beleaguered Hammers boss Alan Pardew admitted the absence of defenders Anton Ferdinand and Danny Gabbidon was detrimental.

'We knew it was going to be a tough order today without our two first-choice centre-halves against a fresh Bolton team who were very good today. Unfortunately we were the opposite,' he said.

'We have to search for a team that's going to put some points on the board. We were very stretched at the back today, the two centre-halves have never even had a training session together. We battled hard and tried to play but having said that, this was a fair result.

'We need strong characters to rebound after this result.

'We weren't good enough today and as a group we have to stick together now. There is a long way to go, we know we've got some problems but we can sort them out,' he said.