Mido made his first start as West Ham claimed a precious 2-0 home victory over Birmingham City to climb out of the Premier League relegation zone on Wednesday. The Egyptian striker was given a starting berth after excelling on his West Ham debut against Burnley last Saturday when he came on as a second-half substitute. He partnered Carlton Cole upfront against Birmingham and put in a fine display in the first half with some energetic moves. He met a cross from Julien Faubert with a header that went wide of the post after seven minutes. Mido, who is on loan from Middlesbrough having cut short another loan spell with Cairo giants Zamalek, had a decent chances five minutes past the hour mark but his weak shot was easily gathered by the keeper. He was replaced immediately afterwards, making way for Brazilian striker Ilan, who also joined West Ham in the January transfer window. A superb free-kick from Alessandro Diamanti and a header from Cole either side of the interval handed West Ham a valuable win. They now lie 14th in the 20-team table, a point above the danger zone. Elsewhere, Mido's compatriot Amr Zaki was introduced in the second half but could not help 10-man Hull City escape a 1-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers. The Bulldozer, who is on loan from Zamalek until the end of the season, replaced Paul McShane in the 67th minute but did not make a notable impact. Hull had George Boateng dismissed before the break for a foul on Morten Gamst Pedersen.
