West Ham 0 Birmingham 1

A Nikola Zigic second-half header was enough to lift Birmingham out of the relegation zone in a vital win over West Ham at Upton Park.

The Serbia international headed home substitute Sebastian Larsson's free-kick with 25 minutes left to steal all three points.

West Ham dominated the first half but Birmingham's David Bentley registered the first shot of the game when he fired over from the edge of the box.

Gardner then flashed another long range effort well wide soon afterwards.

But the Hammers soon settled into the game, with Victor Obinna in particular causing real trouble for the visitors.

The Nigerian shot wide after 21 minutes, and then put in a glorious cross from the left wing which Roger Johnson had to dangerously clear behind for a corner with a diving header.

In stoppage time Obinna also saw a fierce shot deflected into Foster's path by Johnson's arm, but referee Chris Foy turned all penalty appeals away.

Piquionne also shot straight at Foster in the first half after a good pass from Keane and the Irishman also blazed well over from inside the box in first half stoppage time.

Blues struggled to create many changes of their own, with Zigic well-shackled by Matthew Upson.

But Johnson headed a great chance wide when Lee Bowyer's deep cross fell to him inside the area.

Mark Noble was booked late in the first half for a mis-timed challenge on David Bentley as the Tottenham loanee cleared the ball.

West Ham manager Avram Grant swapped an injured Upson for Manuel Da Costa and the Portugese defender almost had an immediate impact when he headed straight at Foster from an early free kick.

Bentley created a huge chance for Zigic minutes later with a delightful right wing cross but the giant Serb headed wide when a ball back across the box seemed the better option.

With the game finely balanced in a crucial game, Alex McLeish's decision to replace striker Cameron Jerome for midfielder Seb Larsson with 33 minutes left seemed very strange and poorly judged.

But it proved a masterstroke by the former Scotland manager as just eight minutes later the Swede created the winning goal with an exquisite cross which Zigic nodded home from close range.

Larsson almost laid on a second goal minutes later but no one could convert his low cross and the danger was cleared.

Grant, who had already swapped Piquionne for Carlton Cole on 59 minutes, brought on a third striker with 15 minutes remaining when Demba Ba replaced Keane.

And the substitute almost netted the equaliser with virtually his first touch, powering the ball against the top of the right hand post from Mark Noble's free kick with Foster beaten.

West Ham poured forward in the last 10 minutes as Blues sat back, content to steal a single goal victory.

Da Costa forced a good save late on when Foster had to parry his long range drive, and the same player then headed agonisingly wide from Lars Jacobsen's superb deep cross, with Carlton Colewaiting to pounce on the rebound.

Da Costa and Obinna were both booked in the dying minutes for mis-timed challenges which owed as much to frustration as anything else, but Blues held on to record only their second away win in the league this season.