West Ham Trounces Stoke City with Excellent Play from Parker, Hitzlsperger, Ba

Looks like Avram Grant has a master plan after all.

Barclay’s Player of the Month Scott Parker dominated the right side, Thomas Hitzlsperger dominated the left side, Demba Ba dominated the forward movement and West Ham dominated possession as the Irons trounced Stoke City 3-0 at Boleyn Ground.

West Ham is now clear of the relegation zone with 31 points. Birmingham, which lost to West Bromwich Albion this morning, sit on 30, Wolves on 28 and Wigan on 27.

Wigan faces Man City this evening. Tomorrow, Wolves take on Tottenham. Tottenham has struggled in the absence of Modrich and Van Der Vaart, though may prove too strong for Wolverhampton despite this.

Last week, West Ham defeated Liverpool at home 3-1. For the first time this season, the Hammers notched back-to-back wins.

Ba opened scoring in the 21st minute with an assist from Mark Noble. It was the Senegalese striker’s fourth goal in three EPL starts. His stellar play has proven instrumental in West Ham’s recent run of form. The east London side has won three, tied one and lost one in its last five matches.

Hitzsperger has proven equally as integral. His left-footed, left-side play balances the Hammers. The German midfielder’s forward movement led to two goals against Stoke—he assisted Manuel da Costa’s 29th minute header and scored himself in the 83rd minute.

Despite being two goals up at the half, West Ham struggled for large portions of the second half as Matthew Etherington orchestrated a number of aggressive attacks for the Potters.

Yet solid work from West Ham keeper Rob Green nullified the threat while dangerous counter attacks spearheaded by Carlton Cole and Freddy Piquionne managed to sway the momentum back into West Ham’s favor.

Hammer’s dominated possession 60-40 and had eight more shots on goal than Stoke, five of which were on target. The side effectively nullified the Potters’ two primary attacking threats, former Hammer Ethernington, who didn’t appear until the second half, and center back Robert Huth.

Next week, West Ham faces Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs’ performance against Wolves tomorrow will be a good indication of where that team is mentally and physically, though the return of Hitzlsperger and the addition of Ba makes West Ham a physically stronger team than either Wolves or Spurs.

Irishman Robbie Kean also returns next weekend. Keane will likely play in place of Piquionne who, despite countless attempts, has suffered a five-match goal drought.

Even if West Ham overcomes Tottenham, it faces Manchester United the following week. Times are tough, but so are the Irons. Here’s to a fantastically entertaining relegation battle.