Andy Carroll gave the Irons a deserved half time lead with as spectacular goal as he has ever scored.

With the first half dying he struck on the 43rd minute when lashing home a magnificent effort into the top corner but it was what went before that made it so special.

He brought Downing’s cross under control with two headed touches with his head from Downing’s cross, before nicking the ball away from Fernandez, turning and lashing a left-footed shot into the top right hand corner.

MAGNIFICENT!

Until then, and despite plenty of possession from the 25th minute, the game was pretty routine but Gylfi Sigurdsson had a chance when firing straight at Adrian.

The Hammers had never allowed the hosts to settle into their normal free flowing home ground style and Garry Monk’s men could never get really underway.

However, immediately following Carroll’s blockbuster Carl Jenkinson produced a magnificent block to deny Routledge.

Aaron Cresswell on the other side, produced a flawless first half, defending superby and getting forward at every opportunity to constantly trouble the Swansea defence