West Ham United 3, Sunderland 1: Hammers' fortune so cruel for Keane

Once a colossus of the Premier League, Roy Keane is finding out that there are thousands of different ways to lose a football match in this division, although few crueller than this one. An own goal off Craig Gordon's ankles while his goalkeeper looked in the opposite direction was bordering on the comical – but then Keane is not the chuckling type.

West Ham's margin of victory may look comfortable but for a period of 20 minutes in the second half after Kenwyne Jones' equaliser, Alan Curbishley's side conspired to throw this game away. They were badly rattled by Sunderland's impressive £6m striker and quivered in front of the visitors.

A goal down to Carlton Cole's strike at half-time, Keane marshalled his meagre resources brilliantly and almost landed an improbable away victory.

He was let down by an absurd sequence of play on 78 minutes when Solano arrived unmarked in the area to hit a shot that struck the post and then the ankles of Gordon – who had dived in vain – before rolling in. This particular Peruvian international is also an aficionado on the trumpet and a couple of ironic toots would have been the ideal soundtrack for this goal when they put the footage on the end-of-season DVD.

It was Solano's debut for West Ham, and his shot that made the second goal was his first-ever touch for the club – galling for the Sunderland support before they even considered his Newcastle connection. Until that point it was Keane's side who looked the most likely to score. Then, a goal down again, they collapsed in the later stages and allowed Craig Bellamy to add a third in injury time.

Keane said that to describe himself as disappointed "would be an understatement" although his pragmatic aspect refused to allow him to blame bad luck. "Fifteen or 20 seconds before that goal we lost possession," he said. "I don't want to keep coming in here and saying that luck was against us. You make your own luck, we were in a great position. I don't believe that the luck was against us.

"We gave the ball away sloppily before they scored the second and when you give the ball away like we did, the beauty of the Premier League is that you will get punished."

The game's crucial moment was Robert Green's save from Grant Leadbitter's shot just before the hour which, with the score at 1-1, Alan Curbishley called "match-winning". Even Curbishley would concede that Jones took control of the game in the second half. "We knew we were under pressure but we broke and got a couple of goals, so I'll take the three points," he said, after a win that lifts West Ham to 10th.

An absorbing end to the game was out of keeping with a dreadful first half with no guile on either side. West Ham were without Scott Parker, Bobby Zamora, Dean Ashton, Freddie Ljungberg and Kieron Dyer and Julien Faubert and it showed. They had to pick Cole in attack and he surprised everyone by scoring. George McCartney's deflected cross from the left was met by a stumbling, but nevertheless unmarked, Cole who headed in from close range.

Half time for Keane and a decisive change. A formation based around a five-man midfield was changed to 4-4-2, Anthony Stokes and Michael Chopra came on and the frailties that West Ham had kept out of sight in the first half soon became evident. Danny Gabbidon in particular was having no luck against Jones who was as effective defending corners as he was attacking them.

The Sunderland striker's equaliser came on 51 minutes when he jumped higher than the West Ham defence to head Leadbitter's corner down powerfully past Green. He had been the pick of the strikers, infinitely more effective than Bellamy, and dominant in the air.

His goal turned the game and for the next 15 minutes, Sunderland had the opportunities to gain an unexpected three points. First came Green's save from the excellent Leadbitter when he broke through and struck a shot that the West Ham goalkeeper did exceptionally well to turn on to the post. Mark Noble kicked Dickson Etuhu's header off the line and Jones went close with another header.

West Ham's second came against the game's run of play, Solano presented with a chance at the back post that struck the post and went in off Gordon. Then, as Sunderland stretched themselves to get the equaliser, the substitute Luis Boa Morte broke free down the left and crossed for Bellamy to score from close range. Boa Morte could have had one of his own moments later but was stopped by Gordon.

As a player, Keane never lost at Upton Park although the reality is very different when you are manager of Sunderland. His team have not won since they beat Reading on 15 September and the visit of Fulham on Saturday is looking like one of those games they cannot afford to lose. That is the beauty of life in the Premier League.