West Ham vs Bolton match report

LONDON (AFP) - Carlos Tevez had Alan Curbishley dreaming of a great escape after his double strike destroyed Bolton and lifted West Ham out of the relegation zone.

Argentina striker Tevez scored two goals, a fantastic free kick and a well-worked tap-in, before providing a killer pass for Mark Noble as the Hammers stormed to a crucial 3-1 win at Upton Park on Saturday.

Curbishley's side have their fate in their own hands for the first time in months and he has told his players they must grab their unlikely relegation lifeline.

That may prove easier said than done however as West Ham, who have won six of their last eight games, are only guaranteed to survive if they become just the second away team to taste victory in a league match at Manchester United this season.

Curbishley will be hoping United are already crowned champions by then and he said: "We find ourselves out of the bottom three for the first time. It's in our hands and we have given ourselves a chance, the question is - can we grab it?

"No one can quite work out how it's going to fall but if we can go to Old Trafford and take anything we have done our bit."

Wigan chairman Dave Whelan, will not have been pleased by the afternoon's results. While Whelan was rallying his counterparts to bring legal action against the Premier League for not deducting points from West Ham, the player whose transfer from Corinthians sparked the controversy was scoring the goals that have taken the Hammers above Wigan in the relegation fight.

With Wigan losing by a goal to nil at home to Middlesbrough, the Latics could slip into the Championship instead of West Ham.

Tevez's two and his hand in the third will certainly be worth more than the 5.5 million pounds West Ham were fined if West Ham do manage to avoid the drop. Premiership survival is currently valued at 40 million pounds.

Asked whether the turmoil surrounding Tevez had been an inspiration, Curbishley added "Not so much. The inspiration is to stay in the Premiership."

While Curbishley was a model of calm, the disappointment was evident all over debut manager Sammy Lee's face. He conceded Bolton's defeat had left them with it all to do in the last game of the season, next week at home to Aston Villa, if his side are to secure their second UEFA Cup spot in three years.

Lee said: "[The UEFA Cup] matters because it showed that we are taking it a stage further. We did it two seasons ago and everyone enjoyed that tour, it's whetted everybody's appetite.

"We try to get as high as possible every season and by getting to UEFA that would be a vindication of everything we are trying to do."

Lee's first game in charge was a difficult one, with a number of first team regulars, including El-Hadji Diouf and Tal Ben Haim, still out through injury.

Lee said of his first experience as manager: "It's different and I've learned a lot about myself today. In the first half there was so much going on and I was thinking about how to change it. It's been a great education for me."

Bolton's improved second half performance had much to do with Lee's decision to substitute David Thompson just after half time.

This allowed Ivan Campo to move out of rightback, where he had been brutally exposed for pace and skill by Tevez and Bobby Zamora, into his more familiar holding midfield role.

With Campo shutting down West Ham in midfield, Bolton soon began to play some decent football.

The culmination of this spell occurred in the 66th minute as Nicolas Anelka fed Gary Speed from wide on the right hand side, the Wales midfielder allowing the ball to run across him before slotting a left foot shot beyond Robert Green. But it was too little, too late for Lee and company.