Kanoute goal turns tide in crunch clash

SUNDERLAND 0 - WEST HAM 1. Frederic Kanoute finally found his shooting boots to fire West Ham into the FA Cup quarter-finals.

The Frenchman, along with team-mates Paolo di Canio and Frank Lampard, had already squandered a host of chances when he struck 14 minutes from time to dump Sunderland out of the competition.

Only Manchester United had previously won at the Stadium of Light this season, but the Hammers, roared on by a huge travelling support, were full value for their win after limiting their hosts to a handful of half-chances before finally making the pressure count.

But if it was Kanoute who captured the headlines with a cool finish, it was 38-year-old defender Stuart Pearce who best typified the defensive resilience of the Hammers.

Pearce marshalled the rearguard with an ageless display, getting in one vital header to deny Kevin Phillips and an even better block to keep out John Oster, to win the plaudits of manager Harry Redknapp.

"Arsene Wenger had the easiest job in football when he went to Arsenal because he had Tony Adams in his dressing room, and when you've got people like that around your football club, your job is easy," he said.

"Lawrie McMenemy had people like Alan Ball and all those type of people when he was a manager, and Stuart Pearce is just so special.

"He was the best left-back in the world when he was in his prime. They can have Maldini or anybody else, I know who I'd sooner play against.

"And he's still a fantastic competitor. People talk about coaching, but the game's about playing, it's not about coaching at all. It's about having good players who have good habits and want to go out and play.

"They see the passes, they know what they're doing, and it's that will to win that he's got that's special."

Kanoute squandered two great openings before the interval, and di Canio and Lampard could do no better after it as the home side started to exert more pressure.

But the Frenchman finally got it right on 76 minutes when he again escaped from the Sunderland rearguard and with keeper Thomas Sorensen out of position, slid the ball home from the edge of the box.

Redknapp was delighted with the result.

"It was a great result for us," he said. "It was a tough cup draw to come up here, but I thought we played ever so well and I always felt that the goal would come."

Copyright 2001
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.