GEORGIOS SAMARAS scored two goals of such magnificence, in a performance by Manchester City that surpassed the 1-0 victory over Arsenal, that supporters were ready to forget the misery which has afflicted the club for such a long time.

There was no happier man than manager Stuart Pearce with the overall effort of his team but the quality of Samaras’s goals made him easily the hero of the hour.

This was the performance and result that City and their manager needed, a restorative game that will leave Pearce able to move on from all the doubt and speculation that comes with the territory whenever a club remains in the quagmire for as long as City have.

Alan Pardew, the West Ham manager, may begin to draw some of that unwelcome spotlight because of an astonishingly poor display by his team.

Where City showed passion and passed the ball with penetration and ambition, the Hammers demonstrated none of these qualities and their response will need to be robust.

All, it seems, is not well at Upton Park, for their hosts had been rapidly approaching the point of crisis. City’s humiliating defeat at Chesterfield on Wednesday in the Carling Cup was the club’s 13th in 16 matches in all competitions dating back to March.

Typically, Pearce insisted in his programme notes: “I’m the one who should take the criticism, not the players.”

But City fans would have preferred to be witness to the beginnings of a revival rather than the manager’s mea culpa.

There were small signs of encouragement. Micah Richards combined early with Trevor Sinclair on the right flank to steal into the Hammers’ penalty area.

He drove his left-footed shot across the face of Roy Carroll’s goal but continued to be adventurous on the overlap. Ishmael Miller and Bernardo Corradi showed similar understanding on the other flank, only for Anton Ferdinand to snuff out the danger before being substituted with a hamstring injury.

Gradually, City began to increase the pace to put the rest of the West Ham defence under pressure. Miller played a superb ball into the channel for Samaras, whose acceleration brought him to the edge of the area, where he opened up his body and struck a near-perfect shot with his right foot that licked the far upright as it went by.

The visitors were struggling but Yossi Benayoun’s attempts to make inroads on the right and Nigel Reo-Coker’s efforts through the middle eventually yielded openings, though neither Marlon Harewood nor Bobby Zamora had one clear strike on Nicky Weaver’s goal.

Sylvain Distin made crucial intervening headers to deny them, first from a cross by Matthew Etherington, then another by Harewood towards his strike partner.

West Ham were nearly made to pay heavily as the first half drew to a close. Samaras fired an in-swinging cross-cum-shot from the right flank that Carroll, at the last moment, wisely decided to push beyond his far post for a corner before Richards surged forward again on the right, away from Etherington and Paul Konchesky into the box.

His pass for Corradi ought to have been finished ruthlessly from close range but Carroll saved for a corner.

Only one of the Argentine signings, Javier Mascherano, was included from the start and he struggled to make any impact.

The Hammers just could not retain possession well enough to create the opportunities for their front two.

With the message reinforced by Pearce at half-time, City went for the jugular early in the second half. Miller’s acceleration down the left flank took him past Hayden Mullins and his shot from inside the area required a defiant block by Christian Dailly.

The ball ricocheted to Samaras on the edge of the area, however, and the striker, as if touched by the gods of ancient Greece, conjured a left-footed volley into the top left corner.

Emboldened now, Pearce’s team set about making certain of victory. A free kick headed down by Sinclair demonstrated the disorganisation of the West Ham defence.

Samaras was unmarked on the edge of the area and had enough time to shift on to his left foot but he sliced his shot narrowly wide. He would not be denied a second time.

Corradi won possession and slipped him a superb pass that left him one-on-one with Carroll. With utter conviction, he arced the ball sublimely over the advancing Hammers goalkeeper into the goal.

Two goals of consummate quality and suddenly all the apprehensions blighting the club had dissipated.

Carlos Tevez was introduced for West Ham but to no effect, his only real contribution a free kick slammed into the City wall. The Hammers’ lame display left Pardew with much to ponder ahead of Thursday’s Uefa Cup visit to Palermo, where they will begin with a 1-0 deficit from the first leg.

Star Man: Samaras (Man City)

Scorer: Man City: Samaras 50, 63

Player Ratings: Man City: Weaver 6, Richards 6, Dunne 6, Distin 7, Jordan 6, Sinclair 7, Barton 7, Hamann 6, Miller 7 (Reyna 81min, 5), Corradi 7 (Dickov 70min, 5), Samaras 8 (Ireland 89min, 5)

West Ham: Carroll 5, Dailly 6, Ferdinand 5, Gabbidon 6, Konchesky 5, Benayoun 6, Reo-Coker 6, Mascherano 6, Etherington 5, Harewood 5 (Tevez 65min, 5), Zamora 5 (Cole 65min,5)

Referee: C Foy

Attendance: 41, 073

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