Football: Lomas completes City's misery

Manchester City 1 West Ham United 2

So much hope in the face of cold reality, if you could convert anxiety to succeed into energy you could power up the north of England on the back of Manchester City. Yesterday another disappointment duly arrived at Maine Road and no-one was the slightest bit suprised.

The script could have been written by anyone familiar with the every day story of City folk. If you can find a calamity they usually will and yesterday they scored a wonderful goal through Georgi Kinkladze, missed a penalty and then lost this FA Cup fourth-round tie with a victory beckoning. The scorer, need you ask, was their former player Steve Lomas.

It was a hard outcome for City but not an unfamiliar one for a club that has such a capacity for problems they ought to have "in crisis" added to the name. A Cup win would have brought at least a respite from months of under-achievement, instead this rumbustious tie leaves them to face only a struggle against relegation into the Second Division.

"If anything sums up our season, it was that," Frank Clark, the City manager, said. "We were hestitant in the first half, had a great opportunity to win it and at the end we were unfortunate not to be still in the competition."

Rather than City, West Ham will face either Sheffield Wednesday or Blackburn in the fifth round.

You could not fault Clark's analysis. City were unlucky, although the ultimate outcome was heralded almost from the start. The match was 12 minutes old when Kinkladze provided a cameo of what was to come, hitting the West Ham bar with a ferocious drive after David Unsworth's hurried clearance had fallen to him 25 yards out.

The promise implied by that shot did not materialise and West Ham got stronger for a spell that extended beyond half-time and should have made the worries of the later stages unnecessary.

The visitors had a good claim for a penalty turned down when Murtaz Shelia flung his arms and his body over the ball to prevent Samassi Abou getting in a shot but even three defenders could not stop the Ivory Coast striker instigating the move that led to West Ham's opener after 27 minutes.

He chested the ball down, held off two challenges and then found John Hartson who, in turn, delivered a pass between the static Kit Symons and Richard Edghill. Eyal Berkovitch burst through the gap, waited for Tommy Wright to make his move and then beat him emphatically.

With Berkovitch causing problems every time he had possession, West Ham assumed control that was rudely snatched away from them with a goal that was breathtaking. Kinkladze had been hobbling and his fate appeared to be an early exit when he received the ball on the right wing after 58 minutes.

A feint with his hips took him past Berkovitch's challenge and, in full flight, he swept past Steve Potts and Rio Ferdinand before finding the West Ham net with a shot off the far post. "You were worried every time he got the ball," Harry Redknapp, the West Ham manager, said: "The man's a genius."

Abou missed a glorious chance to restore West Ham's lead and when Potts was adjudged to have fouled Paul Dickov in the area after 72 minutes the balance of power seemed to be swinging inexoriably in City's direction.

We should have known better. Uwe Rosler hit the penalty over the bar and City's momentum hit a brick wall so the finale was as predictable as it was dreadful for the home fans.

Lomas had been applauded before the match, a gesture unlikely to be repeated after his intervention three minutes later. Berkovitch's corner from the left was cleared inadequately by Symons and he thrashed the ball low past Wright.

Goals: Berkovitch (27) 0-1; Kinkladze (59) 1-1; Lomas (72) 1-2.

Manchester City (3-5-2): Wright; Brightwell, Symons, Shelia; Edghill, Jim Whitley, Kinkladze, Brown, Russell; Rosler, Dickov. Substitutes not used: Bradbury, Brannan, Van Blerk, Crooks, Margetson (gk).

West Ham United (3-4-1-2): Forrest; Pearce, Ferdinand, Unsworth (Breacker, 18); Potts, Lomas, Lampard, Lazaridis; Berkovitch; Abou (Dowie, 86), Hartson. Substitutes not used: Rowland, Bishop, Lama (gk).

Referee: D Gallagher (Banbury).

Bookings: City: Shelia, Brown, Dickov; West Ham: Berkovitch.

Man of the match: Berkovitch.

Attendance: 26,495.