Hammers Have Lift-off At Home

West Ham United’s last home win came against newly-promoted Luton Town back on 11 May. Now, Julen Lopetegui has his first home league win as their new Head-Coach after they picked up only their sixth win of the year, thanks to a 4-1 victory over newly-promoted Ipswich Town on Saturday afternoon.

Lopetegui named the same starting line-up as he did for the draw at Brentford a week ago, while former Hammer Ben Johnson started against the club he left in the summer.

Just like the encounter at The Gtech Community Stadium last time out, there was an early goal but thankfully, this time it was in favour of the Irons, as they were in front with only fifty seconds. Former West Ham loanee Kalvin Phillips gave the ball to Michail Antonio and a great team move followed before the former Nottingham Forest winger beat visiting goalkeeper Arijanet Muric.

In the majority of their games to date however, the East Londoners have let the advantage slip quickly and they did the same again here, as just four minutes later, the scores were level when Liam Delap prevented Lucas Paquetá from getting to the ball after a corner before sending a near post effort past Alphonse Areola.

Given the calibre of opponents that Lopetegui’s side have faced in the first three home games of the season, the East Londoners knew that anything but a win against Kieran McKenna’s team would not go down well with the home faithful. With this in mind, they were pushing to go back ahead. Captain Jarrod Bowen went close to doing just that but the former Manchester City and Burnley stopper saved his effort.

Up the other end, Jacob Greaves could have turned the game on its head but fortunately, he missed the target when presented with a free header.

Mohammed Kudus tried his luck but his low shot was easy for the Kosovo international goalkeeper to hold onto.

The end-to-end pressure of this game showed no sign of abating, as Phillips tried his luck but to be fair, he was not even close to testing Areola.

Dara O’Shea had to clear a Tomáš Souček chance off the line after Muric had his clearance charged down by Paquetá, before the Brazilian midfielder went close himself but unfortunately for the majority inside the stadium, he sent his attempt straight at him.

West Ham needed a bit of luck and it was definitely falling their way in this match as they finally regained the lead two minutes before the break. Emerson Palmieri’s cross was headed onto the bar by Antonio but Kudus somehow managed to get his head to the ball and send it past Muric to provide the home fans with a sense of relief when referee Anthony Taylor blew the half-time whistle.

Confidence must have been high amongst the home players as they went down the tunnel and it must have increased even further just minutes after the restart, as Antonio was denied by Muric, as he cleared the ball following Johnson’s backpass.

Just seconds later, they increased their advantage as the skipper added his name to the scoresheet when he found his way into the box and got the better of Phillips and gave the goalkeeper no chance with a precise finish.

McKenna’s men weren’t without their chances in this game but the Hammers were in need of three points before October’s international break. The hosts were ruthless and nearly had a fourth after an hour but Kudus was unable to get the better of Muric on this occasion.

The visitors were close to a second goal but Areola thwarted Delap when he cleared his lines.

Minutes later, a fourth goal arrived as Bowen squared the ball for Paquetá, who tapped home.

After the goal, Lopetegui made a double change with Guido Rodríguez being replaced by Edson Álvarez and Antonio making way for Carlos Soler.

The margin of victory could have been wider but Muric denied Kudus, while also keeping out Bowen.

Minutes later, Soler tried his but could only fire high and wide.

With time running out, Aaron Cresswell and Crysencio Summerville were brought on for both Palmieri and Paquetá. A few more minutes had been played before youngster Luis Guilherme was handed his competitive debut for the club, as the Brazilian entered the fray for Kudus.

Sammie Szmodics was thrown into the action on seventy three minutes as Jack Clarke’s replacement and the former Bristol City, five Peterborough United and Blackburn Rovers man sent an effort just wide in the closing stages. West Ham successfully negotiated four minutes of second-half stoppage time before the final whistle was blown and the celebrations could start.

The West Ham fans would love to extend their current unbeaten away record next time out, as they travel to North London to face Tottenham Hotspur in the early kick-off on Saturday 19 October.