Hammers youngsters down Black Cats

Junior Stanislas scored on his first start for West Ham as Gianfranco Zola's homegrown youngsters kept them in the hunt for European qualification with a 2-0 win

Stanislas, 19, opened the scoring against Sunderland just before the break, then 20-year-old James Tomkins doubled the advantage after the restart at Upton Park.

Victory took the hosts to seventh in the Barclays Premier League but left Sunderland in deep relegation trouble.

Sunderland nearly took the lead when Grant Leadbitter was sent through by Djibril's Cisse's flick but Robert Green blocked the finish.

David Di Michele, just after the half-hour mark, then scooped the ball over the Sunderland defence but full-back Herita Ilunga sliced his finish.

Two minutes before the break the hosts took the lead when Luis Boa Morte provided a perfectly-weighted pass just beyond centre-back Danny Collins for Stanislas to tap in.

It was cruel on Sunderland, who were on the attack seconds before the goal. Green had turned away Cisse's powerful drive - which was going wide in any case - and West Ham launched their counter-attack from the resulting corner, catching out Anton Ferdinand and his team-mates.

Phil Bardsley forced Green just after the restart with a near-post drive - but the visitors found themselves two goals behind in the 53rd minute when Mark Noble's corner was headed home by Tomkins, who had got in front of Ferdinand to net his first for the club.

It could have got worse for the visitors but reinstated goalkeeper Craig Gordon made three saves in less than a minute, from Matthew Upson, Tomkins and Stanislas.

Jonathan Spector was carried off on a stretcher after an aerial challenge and despite a lengthy delay West Ham's concentration was not affected.