West Ham 1 City 0

[telegraph.co.uk report, MEN report, west ham 'til i die report, match photos]

Looking at the game, it appears as though in most of the areas it was a very even contest, with West Ham managing to take one of the opportunities that came their way whilst again, we failed to do so and once again paid the price.

Mark Hughes though clearly believes we were the better side considering his post match comments:

"I thought our performance was good, on the balance of play we created four or five really good chances but did not take them.

West Ham did not create a great deal, but in the second half they had one chance and took it. Unfortunately for us that has shaped the game. I thought it was one of our best away performances of the season, including Liverpool, but we did not take the chances and get the goal we needed."

Judging by the reaction from the blogs and match reports so far, he does appear to be in a minority and the defeat has once again generated plenty of 'Hughes out' comments on the message boards.

With United's victory in the Carling Cup it guarantees the sixth placed Premier League side a UEFA Cup spot, meaning that should a Champions League side win the FA Cup then seventh place will also enter the UEFA Cup. A win today would of course have taken us into seventh position but the result was symptomatic of our away form this season as we have been unable to go on the road and grind out points in the manner that the sides above us are capable of doing.

There was a boost today in some respects with the (albeit brief) return of Bojinov, but we are set to be hit by injuries ahead of Wednesday's game with Aston Villa - a game that takes on a bigger significance now after today's setback.

Whether you are pro or anti-Hughes, the reality is that we have taken just two points from our last six away games. A glance at the fixture lists shows that we have Chelsea, Arsenal, Everton, United and Tottenham to close out the season. There is little therefore to suggest that seventh place is an attainable position if we are solely reliant on our home form.