F A PREMIER LEAGUE: West Ham 0 Birmingham City 1:THE UPTON Park crowd had made it plain that they did not appreciate the unique talents of Nikola Zigic. "Does the circus know you're here," they chorused at the beginning of the second half. The beanpole Birmingham City striker would enjoy the heartiest of last laughs.

It was his goal that settled this dismal game and spirited three precious points in the relegation struggle back to St Andrew’s. It was one that showcased his aerial threat but also West Ham United’s patented ability to shoot themselves in the foot. Only Mark Noble knew what he was thinking when he leapt into the back of David Bentley on the Birmingham left and the award of the free-kick was merely the prelude to the punishment. The substitute Sebastian Larsson whipped it in devilishly to the far post and Zigic, having lost his marker, guided a header home.

The Serb moved to Birmingham from Valencia last summer for €7 million and this was his sixth goal for the club, making each of them pretty expensive. This one felt priceless. Zigic’s introduction as a substitute had swung the League Cup semi-final second-leg against West Ham in his team’s favour but Premier League points are the hardest currency.

“The players sat there like ghouls on Saturday watching the results come in and there were a few for the bottom teams,” said Alex McLeish, the Birmingham manager. “It just shows that we don’t have a monopoly on spirit. Psychologically, that was a huge win for us.”

It was Avram Grant’s 56th birthday but this was no way to celebrate. Apart from a 77th-minute blast from the substitute Demba Ba on his debut, which rattled the top of the near post, West Ham created little of note. After the tonic of the midweek win at Blackpool, the frustration of taking steps back was palpable. The club’s supporters did not even put their hearts into the booing at full-time.

“We did a few steps forward and then one back,” Grant said.

“It’s very disappointing, especially as we lost to a team near us. It was a six-point game. We didn’t play with the tempo that we know and for the goal, we gave them an easy free-kick. We know that free-kicks are their strength.”

The match was flat at the outset. There was the distinct absence of sharpness and McLeish admitted that his team could not string three passes together in the first-half. Sloppiness and hopeful punts forward pockmarked the action.

The highlight of the first period came when the fourth official stepped forward to indicate that there would be only one additional minute.

“My birthday was not so happy, it has been cancelled,” Grant said. “How can I celebrate? We didn’t score and we didn’t win.”

The years have been kind to the Israeli. The past six months, however, have not.

* Guardian Service