West Ham 2 Portsmouth 0

THIS TIME last year West Ham were celebrating a 4-1 victory at Fratton Park in a result that proved to be the turning point in their season. And they will be hoping the same will be true this time around as the Hammers dispatched Portsmouth at Upton Park to put some daylight between themselves and the foot of the table.

A first half penalty from Alessandro Diamanti and a late header from Radoslav Kovac sealed a 2-0 victory that Gianfranco Zola will hope can kick-start his team's season.

West Ham followed up an inspired performance against Chelsea last week with a more gritty display this time. But there will be no complaints.

Both sides were in no doubt as to the importance of this festive fixture, and they will have known a draw was not much good for either team.

The match could have gone two ways. Both teams could have emerged breathing fire and ready to give their all for arguably their biggest game of the season so far. Or, they could go into their shells and approach the match as if they were stepping into the lion's den.

It was the latter scenario that characterised the opening exchanges at Upton Park, as neither side wanted to give anything away and looked as if they were testing the other out.

Sensing there was little to work with, Scott Parker attempted an audacious 35 yard lob over keeper Asmir Begovic, only to see the ball drift over the bar.

In truth, there was little to pick between the sides until the most significant moment of the first half.

West Ham managed to work their way to the outskirts of the Pompey area, and the ball was squeezed out to Guillermo Franco on the left. His attempted shot was blocked, but Parker did well to flick the loose ball into the path of substitute Luis Jiminez, who had come on for the injured Mark Noble after 16 minutes. The Chile international nicked the ball away from two defenders and was brought down by a combination of ex-Hammers Hayden Mullins and Michael Brown. Referee Lee Probert had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, and Diamanti stepped up to guide the ball into the far corner, out of the reach of Begovic, for a 1-0 lead and his third goal in as many games.

The goal appeared to settle the Hammers' early nerves, although Pompey did manage to force Robert Green into some form of action when Jamie O'Hara's free-kick was comfortably caught by the England stopper.

Just before the break the hosts should have doubled their advantage when Diamanti cleverly picked out Parker on the right byline from a free-kick. The midfielder was able to drill the ball back across goal, where it was deflected into the path of Jack Collison 12 yards out, but the Welshman's half volley was fired inches wide, when he really should have hit the target.

The momentum remained with the home side after the interval, and it was Diamanti again who was involved, his shot from the edge of the box taking a wicked deflection off of Steve Finnan, but Begovic was up to the task with an excellent diving stop to turn it round the post.

Diamanti has certainly had a telling influence on the Hammers since he was promoted to the starting XI, following injuries to Carlton Cole and Zavon Hines.

The mercurial Italian can be as brilliant as he is frustrating for his team-mates though, as he often enjoys a shot at goal. He took another one on the hour mark... from 45 yards, only for the ball to sail narrowly wide of the upright.

However, the mood changed when Gianfranco Zola opted to haul Diamanti off for the returning Valon Behrami.

The hosts seemed content to play out the rest of the game by inviting Portsmouth onto them, and it almost cost them as Aruna Dindane squeezed between Green and Julien Faubert and was left with an open goal, but the angle worked against him and the striker fired into the side netting.

The visitors were beginning to look dangerous, but in piling bodies forward they were susceptible to the counter attack, and West Ham should have put the game to bed on several occasions.

First, Collison shaped to shoot, foiling a defender, and then did shoot, only for Begovic to deny him.

The excellent Parker then played a ball through for Behrami, but the Swiss international could only watch as his effort drifted agonisingly wide of the far post.

Seemingly sensing the Pompey defence creaking once more, West Ham eventually made the points safe. With just two minutes left on the clock Jiminez whipped in a devilish free-kick from the right wing and found the head of Radoslav Kovac, who powered the ball into the net.