Emphatic win for Hammers

ENGLISH FA CUP, FIFTH ROUND: West Ham 5 Burnley 1:THOMAS HITZLSPERGER was on target on his West Ham debut as Avram Grant's side shrugged off relegation worries to book a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup last night.

The German, out for six months with a thigh injury, opened the scoring with a 25-yard thunderbolt before Carlton Cole scored twice in three second-half minutes to put them in the driving seat.

The second of the England forward’s strikes – a beautiful half-volley – was followed by Winston Reid’s powerful header on the hour to make it 4-0.

An error by Robert Green gave Jay Rodriguez a consolation for the Clarets, but Grant’s team scored again through Freddie Sears in injury-time to set up a quarter-final clash away to Stoke.

For Grant, the match represented a chance to deflect attention from his side’s lowly league position and make up in some part for his team’s failure to make it to Wembley in the League Cup.

The Israeli was boosted by Hitzlsperger’s return and he also handed starts to Freddie Sears and James Tomkins, who came in for Achilles injury victim Matthew Upson.

It had been reported that Upson would be out for the rest of the season but the Hammers captain allayed those fears by saying before kick-off that he expected to be back in training “very soon”.

Burnley opened brightly and should have been ahead when Ross Wallace whipped a beautiful ball over the top that set Rodriguez free. The England Under-21 man lifted the ball over Green but Reid came to the stopper’s rescue with a crucial clearance.

Green quickly made amends by superbly tipping over Rodriguez’s lob.

WEST HAM: Green, Reid, Tomkins, Jacobsen, Bridge, Sears, Parker, Noble, Hitzlsperger (Barrera 67), Cole (Spector 73), Ba (Piquionne 82). Subs not used: Boffin, Boa Morte, da Costa, Hines.

BURNLEY: Grant, Mears, Duff, Carlisle, Fox, Elliott, Cork, Eagles (Thompson 84), Marney (Alexander 72), Wallace (Iwelumo 73), Rodriguez. Subs not used: Jensen, Edgar, Bikey, Easton. Booked: Rodriguez, Elliott.

Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire).