Tevez scored twice and had a hand in the third goal to nudge the Hammers closer to Premiership safety, whilst Wanderers had to put their European aspirations on hold and must now look to next weekend's game against Aston Villa for inspiration.

Skipper Kevin Nolan came back into the Bolton side in place of Idan Tal and youngster James Sinclair was once again named amongst the substitutes after an encouraging debut in the 2-2 draw at Chelsea last week.

Wanderers did well in the opening minutes with midfielder David Thompson beating the offside trap to latch onto Kevin Davies pass. However, the pint sized battler's delivery into the area was poor and the ball went out of play.

The home side where lively and eager and there was a real sense of optimism around East London despite their troubles lurking around the Premiership drop zone.

West Ham took the lead on ten minutes when Argentinian attacker Tevez curled a beautiful free kick over the Bolton wall and into the top corner of the net to send the home crowd into raptures.

Bolton looked disjointed and it was no surprise that the Hammers doubled their lead on 21 minutes, again thanks to Tevez. Former Fulham winger Luis Boa-Morte made an incisive run down the left flank before squaring the ball back to the waiting Tevez who made no mistake.

The home side thrived down the wings and Bolton's Ivan Campo in particular was being given a hard time by Boa-Morte. Campo, usually a midfielder, was forced to play out of position for a second week in succession due to a recent injury to Nicky Hunt.

Two goals became three just before the half hour mark when homegrown midfielder Mark Noble smashed the ball home past Jussi Jaaskelainen after being teed up by Tevez.

Tevez could have bagged his hat trick a couple of minutes later but Wanderers, not for the first time this season, had their goalkeeper Jaaskelainen to thank for keeping the score down.

West Ham then sat back to defend their lead but even then Bolton could not find a way back into the contest before the break and changes where obviously needed to be made by new boss Sammy Lee.

Newly appointed player/coach Gary Speed flashed the ball wide for Bolton in the opening minutes of the second period and the introduction of Ricardo Vaz-Te and James Sinclair from the bench helped to freshen the away side up a bit.

Campo moved back to his more natural midfield position alongside Speed and Nolan as the Wanderers looked to make inrodes to get themselves back into the last away game of the season.

West Ham keeper Robert Green produced a fine save to deny Anelka but the England international was eventually beaten a few minutes later when Gary Speed converted a consolation goal from a tight angle.

Wanderers felt the strain of the game a little bit and both Kevin Nolan and Kevin Davies picked up silly bookings for dissent towards referee Mike Riley in the closing twenty minutes.

Tevez then had two chances to force home a fourth West Ham goal but the side netting and good goalkeeping by Jaaskelainen kept the scoreline static. Substitute Harewood also had a chance for the Hammers but defender Adboulaye Meite was quick to react to avert the danger.

The 2006-2007 season draws to a close next Sunday afternoon as Bolton take on Aston Villa at the Reebok Stadium in a game which could seal qualification for next seasons UEFA Cup.

Bolton Wanderers: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Ivan Campo, Lubomir Michalik, Abdoulaye Meite, Ricardo Gardner (Stelios Giannakopoulos), David Thompson (James Sinclair), Gary Speed, Andranik Teimourian (Ricardo Vaz-Te), Kevin Nolan, Nicolas Anelka, Kevin Davies

Subs Not Used: Idan Tal, Ian Walker (GK)

West Ham United: Robert Green, Lucas Neill, Anton Ferdinand, James Collins, George McCartney, Yossi Benayoun, Nigel Reo-Coker (Hayden Mullins), Mark Noble, Luis Boa-Morte (Jonathan Spector), Carlos Tevez, Bobby Zamora (Marlon Harewood)

Subs Not Used: Carlton Cole, Callum Davenport

Referee:

Mike Riley

Attendance:

34,404

Booked:

David Thompson (Bolton)

Bobby Zamora (West Ham)

Ricardo Gardner (Bolton)

Kevin Nolan (Bolton)

Kevin Davies (Bolton)

Gary Speed (Bolton)

Mark Noble (West Ham)

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