A different kind of international

There was something from the Derby County demolition that I forgot to mention. When Nolberto Solano scored on a free kick in the 69th minute, he became the first West Ham player from outside the United Kingdom to score a goal for the Hammers this season. Prior to his beautiful strike, West Ham's goals had been scored by players who are from one of the Home Nations: England (Lee Bowyer, Matthew Etherington, Dean Ashton, Mark Noble, Carlton Cole), Wales (Craig Bellamy) or Northern Ireland (George McCartney). The Peruvian will be busy during the international break, as Peru host Brazil and visit Ecuador in World Cup qualifying. Solano was nearly edged out by American Jonathan Spector, whose trickling shot through traffic caused an own goal in the 55th minute. At first, I could see a case for crediting Spector with the goal, as it appeared that Derby's Eddie Lewis (also an American) had fallen over the ball on the line, but no, replays showed that Lewis tripped trying to play the ball. For now, it's an own goal, although Spector was hoping that a ruling would go in his favor.