West Ham 3-1 Sunderland
Areola:6 Incredible reaction save in the second minute from a stinging shot from Sadiki then had nothing to do for an hour until he had to pick the ball out of the net on 66 mins. Almost conceded the weirdest goal you’ll ever see near the end but did well eventually.
Wan Bissaka:6 Like many of his teammates, guilty of giving away the ball as Sunderland applied early pressure. Got better after a shaky first few minutes.
Mavropanos:8 Blocked a cross on Sunderland’s first attack. Clumsy at times but very committed and physical. Definitely a good partnership building with JCT. Almost had a fight as West Ham nearly scored a 4th.
Todibo:8 Showed good strength to hold off Brobbey. At times he was absolutely majestic and looked like a £35m defender.
Scarles:7 Won West Ham a penalty following good link-up play with Summerville. Just gave 100% to every tackle he went in for. Got caught out out for Sunderland’s goal which made the whole defence have to switch across with Brobbey scoring with a header.
Soucek:7 Once again too frequently in crossing positions rather than in the box. Won plenty of headers and dropped into central defence to help out. Committed as always and exactly what’s needed in a relegation scrap. Almost scored a 4th with his back . . . don’t ask.
West Ham 3-1 Sunderland: Soucek and Bowen both had big games for the Hammers
Fernandes:10 Gave the ball away with his first pass but forgot about it pretty quickly and once again bossed midfield and continued to get better. Scored a ridiculous goal just before half time when he curled in a shot from almost 30 yards to go 3-0 ahead. Shouting instructions to his teammates all game long and produced a complete midfield performance.
Bowen:9 Great wing-play on 13 mins saw Bowen jink down the right hand side and deliver a perfect cross for Summerville to score. Scored with a sweetly struck penalty after 27 mins which his manager couldn’t bear to watch. Got his opponent on a card following another good dribble.
Summerville:9 Scored a towering header (yes you did read that correctly) when he drifted into the area unmarked to head West Ham into a 1-0 lead from a Bowen cross. he was a nightmare to mark. Unplayable.
Summerville put West Ham ahead with a strong header
Pablo:5 Blazed over with a decent chance from 8 yards out. Worked his sock off, pressed and managed to pinch a couple of balls.
Castellanos:6 Unbelievably hard worker. Not a lot of quality on offer from the front two but set the stage for Bowen, Summerville and Fernandes to flourish.
Substitutes
Wilson:6 On for Pablo who had worked hard but struggled to make the ball stick. Somehow got penalised for a foul on Ballard when it was the other way around. Wonderful control as West Ham appealed for a second penalty.
Diouf:6 Swapped for Scarles as part of a double substitution as the Hammers sat back for the last 20 mins.
Potts:6 Replaced Taty who was on a card and immediately put in a crunching tackle.
Kilman: 91st min sub to waste some time
The two new lads up front have made a huge difference to the team, they are just what we needed, not superstars but bloody hard workers which helps keep teams pushed back and instills confidence in our team. I like these two and they have defo made a difference.
They all played well. Pablo and Taty make the difference for me giving the opposition back line something to think about in the middle and freeing up Summerville or Bowen.
Look how quickly we can react and move the ball without Paqueta making the writing choices, holding on to the ball too long, slowing down the midfield down and giving away cheap possession.
Sell the liability now and take the offer.
Hmm, two games without Paqueta, two wins.
Coincidence?
What a team performance, great to see well done lads , shame no clean sheet but that’s being picky . They were great , still need a few more players for back up . Nice to see Nuno and players connect , keep it up 😀. COYI ⚒⚒⚒
Great result today
Whole team put in a shift
Don’t like comments about Pablo being poor,I think just his movements have helped the team same wit Taty,
The work rate is good and the open up play for Bowen,Summerville and Fernandes
So let them settle in
I am impressed on what they have done so far
And well done Ollie, great performance again
Well done fans, great atmosphere today, keep it going
Funny how a few goals and a bit of commitment put the soul into the “soulless stadium”
For once a smile when leaving a Hammers match
Question, my missus asks did you get the Kilman words mixed up ?… you said … “to waste time”… whilst she says it should read… “he’s a waste of time ” :):)
For me I’ve gone from shouting … “Sit down Ings”… to shouting….. “Sit down Kilman”… sadly Nuno does listen
A great performance and a precious 3 points but I think you’ve got a bit carried away with your player ratings Gonzo
John, every single game someone criticises my player ratings for being either too high or too low.
I can’t possibly match what every reader is thinking in their head. Please send in yours and I’ll publish them mate but I hope you’ll understand that I can’t alter mine.
You’re dead right, Gonzo. We should all feel something that we haven’t felt since the start of the season. A little bit of hope. And your ratings reflect that.
No worries Gonzo. I just think a 10 and two 9’s is a bit OTT and in my view 6 for the hard working Pablo is a tad mean
Great win and the first half was something else! Now if only we could fix the defending. For the most part our defence was excellent but you just knew we would not keep a clean sheet. We never do. I’ve an idea – why don’t we bring in a couple of no-nonsense central defenders? Simples! 🙄
Not that matters now but decision to disallow 4th goal was terrible. You can quite clearly see on the replays that Diarra pushes Soucek with both his hands into the Sunderland keeper. It wasn’t accidental it was deliberate
Class… 10/10. If we play like this every week we will have nothing to worry about. Surely staying in the premiership? Let’s hope Forrest gets pumped tomorrow 5ni. Got that strange “proud” feeling again which I’m happy to get used to, brilliant performance and 100% deserved the win/3 points ⚒️⚒️⚒️⚒️
Nuno needs to stick with this selection every game from here in, injuries notwithstanding. 10 more performances like that and we give ourselves a real chance of staying up.
More such games with the irons showing this kind of commitment and effort, and a miracle may still be possible. A well deserved 3 points.