West Ham 3 West Brom 1 - Match analysis and pictures

And, while their views were neither representative of the whole Baggies fanbase nor consistent with the facts, the knee-jerk minority did shed a light on the soaring expectations around The Hawthorns.

Jonas Olsson was a 'liability', claimed one keyboard crusader. Albion cannot succeed with a 4-4-2 system, screamed another.

And, most extraordinarily of all, was the claim that Steve Clarke's team – comfortably eighth with a handful of games remaining in world football's most competitive league – 'had not played well all season'. There was much nonsense spilling from a fervent few on forums that Clarke and his players must not concern themselves with for more than a minute.

Yet the reactionary response of the most demanding Baggies fans showed the team that ambitions continue to rocket and targets become higher by the month.

The stoppage-time brain-fade that saw Youssouf Mulumbu sent off in almost comic circumstances was a timely reminder of the potential effects of that added pressure. There were times not so long ago in Albion's turbulent Premier League history that games like Saturday's in East London were commonplace.

The Baggies would turn up at one of the top flight's established venues and find themselves out-played, out-fought and out-thought. They would simply not put up a fight.

In the last three seasons, such occasions have become so rare that any relapse such as this one now prompts a serious inquest among supporters. Clarke, Roy Hodgson and their Baggies players have raised the bar of aspiration to a level not seen at The Hawthorns for a generation.

Now they have no choice but to embrace the extra pressure – and accept that performances such as Saturday's will no longer be greeted with a collective shrug of resignation. The no-show at Upton Park was so shocking to travelling Albion supporters precisely because it was so unexpected.

Clarke and Co have been so strong since shaking off their mid-winter blues with victory at Liverpool that every fan who made the trip to the capital fully expected to see their side at least push the inconsistent Hammers all the way.

In the end, Sam Allardyce's men won at a canter despite a bright Baggies start that was undermined crucially by defensive brittleness that handed Andy Carroll two goals of vastly differing style either side of Gary O'Neil's cultured strike.

Graham Dorrans' late penalty went some way towards softening the impact of Albion's most abject defeat of 2013 so far, but Mulumbu's ridiculous late red card completed the misery on a day when the crispness of Clarke's side deserted them.

Perhaps an early goal might have applied the jump leads to a stuttering Albion display and it almost arrived when a fierce Romelu Lukaku free-kick struck Shane Long and flew towards goal. But Jussi Jaaskelainen pulled off a fine save, diving away to his right to claw the ball onto the woodwork, and those acrobatics set his team on course to run riot.

The Baggies' backline looked all at sea from the start and it was breached just two minutes after Jaaskelainen's save as the Hammers broke with pace to win a corner and O'Neil's flag-kick was thundered home by the head of Carroll, who was allowed by Olsson to drift into a different postcode.

Matt Jarvis missed a glorious chance to double the lead, but that was just a temporary reprieve before a pacy West Ham break from a Baggies set-piece ended with Ricardo Vaz Te teeing up O'Neil to bend in a shot.

A fractional improvement by Clarke's men after the interval saw Lukaku blast just off target and Billy Jones draw a smart save from Jaaskelainen. But the game was up with 10 minutes to go when Olsson and Gareth McAuley left Carroll acres of turf in the Baggies box to collect James Collins' free-kick and send a sublime volley low past Foster.

When Lukaku was bundled down by Matt Taylor on 87 minutes, Dorrans rifled the resulting penalty into the net.

But that goal did not ease Mulumbu's frustration and, when he had his heels clipped by O'Neil deep into stoppage time, the Baggies man drop-volleyed the ball at his opponent in a moment of petulant, inexcusable slapstick that will rob Clarke of his services for three games.

It was a further sign of the increasing demands from both inside and outside the Albion camp. Like it or not, the Baggies must learn to live with the pressure.

Steve Madeley