Cursing the name of an English goalkeeper has become a familiar pursuit in recent years, such have been the travails of David James, Paul Robinson and Scott Carson while playing for the national team, but a different type of frustration engulfed West Ham United’s players and manager yesterday after they were kept at bay for the third time in a fortnight by the increasingly impressive Joe Hart.

In this trilogy of matches against Manchester City, two in the FA Cup, West Ham could claim to have been the better team on each occasion, but, to Alan Curbishley’s dismay, they have failed to record a win. Curbishley and his staff will chew over any number of possible explanations during the nine days before West Ham’s next match, but, as he reflects on yesterday’s match in particular, he may conclude that they were simply unfortunate to be up against a 20-year-old goalkeeper intent on underlining his burgeoning reputation.

Sven-Göran Eriksson attempted to play down the hype surrounding Hart, saying that, although he “has a great future”, it might be too early for Fabio Capello to consider drafting him into the England squad. Perhaps he is right, but in making smart saves from Hayden Mullins, Mark Noble and Carlton Cole during a one-sided second half yesterday, Hart showed enough promise to suggest that he should soon be forcing his way into the England reckoning.

Curbishley suggested that Hart had “probably been the deciding factor in why we haven’t won both games over the past few days” and, while it would be an injustice to Dietmar Hamann to suggest that this was a one-man crusade, the West Ham manager had a point. Hart’s form is certainly the biggest positive for City, given that Elano and others are struggling to recapture their early-season sparkle, with Eriksson’s need for a new centre forward more glaring than ever after another substandard performance from Rolando Bianchi.

Even Richard Dunne let his standards slip, uncharacteristically teeing up West Ham’s opening goal in the eighth minute with a sloppy pass that was intercepted by Noble. Even so, Dunne’s mistake might have gone unpunished had it not been for a spectacular finish from Cole, who, with his back to goal, flipped Fredrik Ljungberg’s cross into the air before beating Hart with an overhead volley.

Within eight minutes it was 1-1, Darius Vassell scoring from close range after Anton Ferdinand and George McCartney failed to cut out Martin Petrov’s cross. West Ham were entitled to feel aggrieved, given that Vassell seemed to have been in an offside position, even taking into account the vagaries of the law these days. “The linesman said that he [Vassell] wasn’t active, but we’ve been hurt, obviously,” Curbishley said.

West Ham should still have won, Ljungberg in particular driving them forward in the closing stages. Noble also caught the eye and may be forcing himself into Capello’s long-term plans, but the most influential young Englishman was Hart. Light at the end of the tunnel, perhaps, for the maligned English goalkeeping fraternity.

Manchester City (4-2-3-1) J Hart 8 V Corluka 5 M Richards 6 R Dunne Y 6 M Ball 5 S Ireland 6 D Hamann 7 D Vassell 6 Elano 5 M Petrov 6 R Bianchi 5. Substitutes: Gelson Fernandes 6 (for Vassell, 58min), Geovanni Y 5 (for Ireland, 68), J Garrido (for Elano, 78) Not used: K Schmeichel, N Onuoha. Next: Derby County (a).

West Ham United (4-1-4-1) R Green 6 L Neill Y 7 A Ferdinand 7 M Upson 7 G McCartney 5 H Mullins 7 F Ljungberg 8 L Bowyer Y 7 M Noble Y 7 L Boa Morte Y 6 C Cole 6. Substitutes: J Faubert (for Boa Morte, 71), J Spector (for Bowyer, 90). Not used: R Wright, J Collins, K Reid. Next: Liverpool (h).

Referee P Dowd
Attendance 39,042