A bizarre own goal from Craig Gordon sent Sunderland packing to another defeat in London as our poor away run continued at Upton Park today.

Roy Keane made three changes from the side that started the 3-2 loss at Arsenal last time out, with Greg Halford replacing the suspended Paul McShane in defence, while Dickson Etuhu came in for Dwight Yorke. There was a surprise in our five-man midfield, with Michael Chopra dropped down to the bench as Roy O'Donovan made his first Premier League start. The Hammers included former Sunderland man George McCartney in defence, while former Mags Craig Bellamy and Lee Bowyer start, with Nolberto Solano on the bench.

Sunderland started brightly, with Kenwyne Jones heading the ball just over Rob Green's bar after 44 seconds, before a long throw in from Greg Halford went all the way through to the West Ham keeper, who needed two goes to scoop up the ball. West Ham took the lead on eight minutes, when McCartney's run down the left wing went virtually unchallenged by Halford, allowing him to put a cross in which was headed in by Carlton Cole.

Jones almost got us back in it on 15 minutes when he forced Green to push his volley around the post, but Sunderland wasted the resulting corner kick. A mistake from Mark Noble gave Liam Miller an easy chance four minutes later, but the Irishman shot straight at Green from the edge of the penalty area. West Ham still came forward though, with Matt Etherington slicing a shot just wide on 22 minutes after a missed challenge from Nyron Nosworthy as we still looked somewhat unsure of ourselves.

Lee Bowyer headed the ball just over the bar when he was allowed a free header from Noble's free kick, shortly before he had to head away a cross from Grant Leadbitter at the other end. Sunderland ended the first half in a more orthodox 4-4-2 formation, with O'Donovan pushing up alongside Jones, but the Hammers ended the first half on top with an effort from Carlton Cole and a cross from Craig Bellamy forcing us to defend going into the break.

Anthony Stokes and Michael Chopra came on at half time, as Ross Wallace and Roy O'Donovan made way, and after weathering a brief period of pressure as the Hammers penned us into our own penalty area, but Kenwyne Jones headed us back onto level terms, when he soared above the West Ham back line to nod in a Grant Leadbitter corner on 51 minutes.

Leadbitter hacked a shot off target three minutes later, as West Ham went on to see Bellamy put a shot just wide of Craig Gordon's goal with their next foray into our penalty area. From the goal kick, Gordon's kick downfield was headed on by Dickson Etuhu towards Leadbitter, whose shot was parried onto the post by Green. The action kept flowing from end to end, with Noble clearing a header from Etuhu off the line, while Nosworthy had to deny Etherington on 67 minutes as both sides looked for a winner.

Kenwyne Jones placed a header just wide from Greg Halford's 69th minute cross as the Hammers struggled to contain Jones. West Ham regained the lead on 77 minutes, when Nyron Nosworthy missed a clearance, allowing a cross to roll through to Nolberto Solano. The Hammers' debutant hit the post with his shot, but the rebound bounced off the legs of Craig Gordon and into his own net.

Ian Harte came on for the final 12 minutes as we tried to salvage a point after that bizarre goal, and Kenwyne Jones came close to drawing us level again when he put a header straight at Green. West Ham put ten men behind the ball as Sunderland pushed forward for the equaliser, and the Hammers ended up grabbing a third goal in stoppage time, when Boa Morte ran forward, allowing Craig Bellamy to hit us on the break and condemn us to another defeat in London. Gordon denied Luis Boa Morte from making the scoreline embarrassing, as it ended 3-1 to the Hammers.

Sunderland: Gordon, Halford, Nosworthy, Higginbotham, Collins (sub 78, Harte), Leadbitter, Miller, Etuhu, Wallace (sub 46, Stokes), Jones, O'Donovan (sub 46, Chopra). Subs: Ward, Connolly.

West Ham: Green, Neill, Gabbidon, Upson, McCartney, Bowyer, Noble (sub 73, Solano), Mullins, Etherington (sub 73, Boa Morte) Cole (sub 85, Ferdinand), Bellamy. Subs: Wright, Camara.