City's Hart stopper for miserable Hammers boss Curbishley

Curbishley left Eastlands a disappointed man for the second time in five days, cursing another controversial decision and wishing Eriksson had not opted for Hart as his first-choice keeper ahead of Kasper Schmeichel and Andreas Isaksson.

The West Ham boss took an away point as consolation this time but no team deserved more to spoil City's unbeaten home record this season.

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It was Hart who rescued City in Wednesday's FA Cup third-round replay and he was at it again yesterday, and Curbishley was left upset after Darius Vassell was allowed to cancel out Carlton Cole's opener despite being in an offside position.

"We've been hurt there obviously," said the West Ham boss. "We asked the linesman. He said that Vassell wasn't active and then suddenly became active. All letters go to FIFA and whoever deals with these things."

Eriksson acknowledged that his team were fortunate to take a point.

Of greater concern to the Swede is his lack of attacking options as he looks to revitalise City's hopes of Champions League qualification.

He lost Vassell yesterday after he was hurt by Luis Boa Morte's scissor tackle.

The Portuguese forward was booked and suffered the indignity of being substituted for the second time in five days to save him from being sent off after a final warning from referee Phil Dowd for tangling with Dietmar Hamann.

Eriksson is keen to make a signing before the end of the transfer window.

"We're working to see if something more will happen," he said.

"I should like to do it and so would the owner. Attacking-wise we weren't very good today."

Although three hours of FA Cup combat had produced only one goal, if anyone expected another cagey affair as the teams faced each other for the third time in 15 days, they would have been surprised by two strikes in 16 minutes.

Mark Noble intercepted a wayward pass by Richard Dunne to feed Freddie Ljungberg on the right and he crossed to Cole with his back to goal.

The striker seized the chance to send an overhead kick past Hart. It was the first time West Ham had scored in six games against City.

The lead did not last long. Vassell was a yard offside as Martin Petrov crossed from the right, but he was ruled onside when Matthew Upson's clearance rebounded off George McCartney and gave the City striker the chance to beat Robert Green from close range.

"I wish we'd hung on for a little longer," said Curbishley. "It would have been interesting to see how City would have coped as they've gone ahead in most of their games."

Julien Faubert posed an immediate threat when he replaced Boa Morte 20 minutes from time. He had the ball in the net three minutes later only to see his effort ruled out for offside, and then combined with Cole to set up Noble, who forced a point-blank save from Hart.

The keeper was City's saviour again in the fourth minute of added time, arching backwards to tip the ball over when Cole's header from a Faubert cross deflected off Micah Richards.

"Hart's probably the deciding factor why we haven't won both games," said Curbishley.

Eriksson added: "He's a fantastic goalkeeper. I think in the future he has the chance to be an England senior player."