Bristol City hold Hammers

West Ham lost further ground to npower Championship leaders Southampton after drawing 0-0 against lowly Bristol City.Boss Sam Allardyce has this week brushed off criticism of his side's style of play, claiming teams that gain promotion need to know how to win ugly.But a stalemate at home to the side who kicked off propping up the division will be hard to stomach for the second-placed Hammers.In fairness they would surely have won at a canter had Frederic Piquionne's radar not deserted him in front of goal, while Kevin Nolan was twice denied by David James and Freddie Sears was a whisker away when he rattled a post.But City, full of confidence after a first win under new boss Derek McInnes on Saturday, were themselves a threat on the break and also hit the woodwork.
Julien Faubert and substitute Carlton Cole both missed late chances in a frantic finish, and Yannick Bolasie fired narrowly wide in the 89th minute as the Robins claimed a morale-boosting point.

Seagulls suffer Hammers blow

Brighton's early-season pace-setters have, by contrast, tumbled down the table after their winless run was extended to seven games.
The Seagulls could count themselves unfortunate, though, having created a host of chances to cancel out Nolan's 17th-minute strike. And they were architects of their own downfall after a bad mistake from Liam Bridcutt gifted West Ham what proved to be the winner.
Brighton manager Gus Poyet likes his team to play the ball out from the back, but not when they end up handing it on a plate to a player of Nolan's ability on the edge of the area. Bridcutt's heavy touch allowed the midfielder to nick the ball off him, stride forward and lash his shot past his old Newcastle team-mate Steve Harper.
Veteran keeper Harper had only joined Brighton on loan a few hours earlier and obviously did not have time to get his bearings, standing far too close to his near post and offering Nolan the rest of the goal to aim at.
Sam Allardyce's side had to see out eight minutes of stoppage time, following a nasty injury to Brighton's Gary Dicker.

Match Report:West Ham 0 Cardiff 1

West Ham were given a rude welcome to life in the Championship , as a last-gasp Kenny Miller goal condemned them to a shock opening defeat.Sam Allardyce's first match in charge of the Hammers, who are favourites for promotion back to the top flight, was heading towards a damp squib of a goalless draw as the rain lashed down at Upton Park.But Miller crashed a dramatic winner on his Cardiff debut as West Ham were given a stark reminder that the Championship may not be the cakewalk the bookmakers are predicting.
Their midfield pairing of Kevin Nolan and Scott Parker would not look out of place in most Premier League teams but for various reasons they find themselves in the second tier.Nolan is captaining the Hammers after contract talks with Newcastle broke down while Parker, named in the England squad to face Holland on Wednesday, is apparently happy to stay unless Tottenham or a top-four club come in for him before the end of the month.Yet the illustrious duo could not break down a well-organised Cardiff side with a new manager of their own in Malky Mackay.Parker should have put the home side ahead after 10 minutes when he found himself bearing down on goal but his touch let him down and Anthony Gerrard was able to make the challenge.Further chances came and went for Frederic Piquionne, Nolan and Freddie Sears, with Robert Green only being tested once as he clawed away Don Cowie's header.After the break Matt Taylor, another of Allardyce's summer recruits, tried to breathe some life into his new side.

But as the clock ticked into stoppage time Miller, who had hardly had a sniff all game, collected a pull-back from substitute Rudy Gestede and lashed the ball past Green.