SUNDERLAND’S FAILING BID to remain in the Premier League were dealt a hammer blow tonight as West Ham claimed a 2 – 1 win at the Stadium of Light..

The Black Cats went into the fixture second from bottom in England’s top flight, four points off West Brom safe in 17th, but with two game in hand on the Baggies.

Rather than put pressure on their fellow strugglers though, Sunderland gave them reason to be cheerful as they were unable to pose any great threat to Sam Allardyce’s defence until they were 2 – 0 down.

Former Newcastle target man Andy Carroll opened the scoring with a towering leap and header above John O’Shea in the 10th minute and the visitors would carry the advantage through the half-time break.

Mohamed Diame doubled Sunderland’s deficit on 50 minutes, with this deflected effort.

It was not until the introduction of Adam Johnson that the hosts began to create openings and the former Manchester City wing gave the booing home crowd hope with a fine finish 25 minutes from time.

With nothing to  lose, Gus Poyet’s side rallied from that positions and went close to drawing level through a rasping low shot from Ki Sung-Yueng and  Ignacio Scocco’s late header. Both, however, flew the wrong side of the posts and the league’s 19th ranked team remain just one point above Fulham.