West Ham continued their impressive recent run with a third win on the trot.

However, it was a victory tinged with good fortune with Norwich having all of the clear cut chances up until the final 20 minutes.

The hosts had their keeper Adrian to thank.

In the first half he saved from a Gary Hooper header after a cut back from Nathan Redmond.

Redmond then split the West Ham defence to put Robert Snodgrass clean through but he was also blocked by Adrian.

Finally, Alex Tettey scampered clear but he also saw his effort pushed wide by the inspired stopper.

In the second half Norwich continued to press but failed to make the breakthrough.

The first real effort from West Ham came in the 76th minute when Kevin Nolan released Mohammed Diame but his shot was expertly saved by Norwich keeper John Ruddy.

West Ham then picked up the pace, with Diame winning a freekick out on the left, hoisting the ball over for defender James Collins to rise above the Norwich defence and plant his header in the net.

Then as the game moved deep into injury time Diame broke from his own half completing a mazey run by putting the ball under Ruddy. It was tough on Norwich, not that the home faithful were complaining.

Norwich's frustrated boss Chris Hughton admitted the level of performance from his team was good but they did not put the chances away. "When you are up against a strong physical West Ham team you've got to be able to match them - we missed the chances," said Hughton.

Sam Allardyce expressed his delight at securing not only a win but a fourth clean sheet on the trot.

The West Ham boss complimented the players brought in during the January window as good characters to have around.

"There was nothing between the teams today apart from the fact we were the ones who took our chances when they came our way," said Allardyce.

"Our goalkeeper made some outstanding saves when needed to keep it at 0-0 and our patience paid off."