Don’t look now but West Ham United is staring down at some of the traditional powers – Manchester United and Arsenal – in the Premier League standings. The East London club with the passionate fan base moved into third place after beating 10-man Swansea City, 3-1, on Sunday at Upton Park. West Ham has won three straight and although it will likely drop one spot in the standings after Monday’s Southampton-Man United result, it has been an impressive season for the Hammers under no-nonsense manager Sam Allardyce. “We are third now and we put a nice gap between ourselves and the teams below us,” said Allardyce, who team is four points ahead of sixth-place Arsenal and six points behind second-place Manchester City. “I hope we can stay as consistent as we have been over the last nine games — one defeat in that run and three wins in the last eight days. . . . It shows the importance of three victories in a short period of time.” Andy Carroll scored two goals, the first one his first since last March. The powerful striker was making just his fifth appearance after missing much of the season with an ankle injury….