LONDON (AP) — Matt Jarvis and Ricardo Vaz Te scored in the first half Monday as West Ham hung on for a 2-1 win at 10-man Queens Park Rangers in the Premier League to leave their London rivals languishing in last place.
Jarvis gave his team the lead in the third minute, heading in from a tight angle after Kevin Nolan's mishit shot looped over to the far post. Vaz Te then doubled the lead from almost exactly the same spot, volleying in a cross past Julio Cesar.
Adel Taarabt pulled one back for QPR with a spectacular long-range strike in the 57th, but the hosts' chances of a comeback were stifled when Samba Diakite was sent off for a second booking in in the 75th.
Andy Carroll made his return from a hamstring injury when he came on as a second-half substitute and had time to set up his teammates for a couple of good chances and force a save from Julio Cesar with a hard shot from the edge of the area in injury time.
Despite being a man down, QPR had chances to equalize and forced a couple of good saves from Jussi Jaaskelainen. The loss leaves the hosts with just two points from six rounds and is likely to increase the pressure on manager Mark Hughes, with the club having spent big in the transfer market to establish itself in the top half of the table.
"We were very poor," Hughes said. "In the first half, we were just off the pace for whatever reason. In the second half we made a better (fight) of it." Taarabt provided the highlight of the game, less than two minutes after coming on as a substitute. After receiving the ball, Taarabt cut inside from the left and created space before unleashing a 25-yard strike that dipped beyond reach of Jaaskelainen.
"It was an absolutely brilliant strike," said West Ham manager Sam Allardyce, whose team is in seventh place with 11 points. "In the end we got a well-deserved victory."
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