West Ham 1 Chelsea 1

WEST HAM battled to a morale-boosting draw against Chelsea at Upton Park, earning themselves the point that means they will not sit bottom of the Premier League table this Christmas.

History states that the side that props up the table on December 25 is relegated, with only one exception to that rule.

Alessandro Diamanti's first-half penalty ensured the team avoided that fate, after Ashley Cole had brought down Jack Collison.

In a game that saw four penalties scored, but only two goals awarded, Frank Lampard slotted his third successive kick on the hour after having two previous efforts chalked off for encroachment.

The midfielder received a predictably hostile reception at the ground where he first emerged on the Premier League scene, but he almost silenced the crowd in the seventh minute when he forced Robert Green into an instinctive save with a rasping drive from the edge of the box.

The stop will have been a welcome first touch for the under pressure England number one, but if he was feeling more at ease you wouldn't have known it as he flapped at the resulting corner and was lucky to escape as his team-mates completed the clearance with the goal gaping.

Lady Luck hasn't been too kind to West Ham at Upton Park this season, and it seemed as if her gaze was focused elsewhere once again when defender Danny Gabbidon was forced off with a hamstring injury after chasing a ball into the corner.

The omens looked worse for the hosts when Branislav Ivanovic powered a superb header towards goal from Florent Malouda's corner, but the excellent Parker was in the right place at the right time to make the clearance off the line.

West Ham were more than a match for their illustrious neighbours however, and after half an hour they had their first real sight at goal. Parker cleverly threaded the ball through for Herita Ilunga, who was galloping into the area, and the Congolese full-back opted to fire the ball to Jack Collison on the edge of the box, but his shot was kept out by the legs of Petr Cech.

The Hammers were then caught napping from a set piece when Lampard spotted the unmarked Didier Drogba but the Ivorian shot harmlessly into the side netting.

The hosts enjoyed several promising forays into enemy territory with a series of neat one-touch moves, and it was from one of these such passages of play that the goal arrived.

Guillermo Franco received the ball and was allowed to turn 30 yards from goal. The Mexican then played an inch-perfect pass through for Collison, who charged into the area and was only thwarted by the clumsy challenge of Ashley Cole.

Mike Dean pointed to the spot and Diamanti, displaying nerves of steel, casually dispatched the ball into the bottom right hand corner to give West Ham the lead just before half-time.

Carlo Ancelotti will not have been happy with what he saw, as he hauled off Malouda and the ineffective Solomon Kalou for Jon Obi Mikel and young striker Daniel Sturridge.

Sturridge's pace began to cause the Hammers' backline problems, and he was instrumental in orchestrating the visitors' equaliser, but not before Drogba had attempted to emulate the great Marco Van Basten by attempting an audacious half volley from an almost impossible angle that flew a yard wide.

Just ten minutes later, Sturridge received the ball on the right side of the penalty box and Upson, committed to the tackle, slid in to touch the ball away from the striker. But the linesman, seemingly in an excellent position to see the incident, waved his flag furiously and the referee awarded a penalty.

What happened next was difficult to comprehend. Lampard stepped up and smashed his kick into the bottom left corner, but the goal was ruled out for encroachment. With celebrations cut short, the midfielder dusted himself off and put his effort to the opposite side of Green, before running away to the Chelsea fans to resume his celebration. However, Dean, enjoying the sound of his whistle, brought play back again and forced Lampard to take the kick for a third time. He delivered once again and this time there was no referee's whistle to silence the cheers from the away end.

West Ham could have folded there and then, as has so often happened at the Boleyn Ground, but they fought back and Diamanti was at the heart of everything going forward, forcing Cech into a fine diving save and seeing another effort blocked.

Chelsea forged forward but they couldn't find a way through and West Ham were left to celebrate a deserved point that saves them the embarrassment of sitting bottom at Christmas.