Hammers Celebrate Clarets Double

It’s fair to say that although West Ham United made a bad start to 2026, the way they have rectified the situation in recent weeks has made it better than the majority of the last two years combined. On Saturday afternoon, the Hammers finally achieved their first double of the current campaign when they beat newly-promoted Burnley 2-0 at Turf Moor.

Nuno Espírito Santo made three changes to the side that were eventually beaten by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge a week ago. There was a surprise in goal, as Mads Hermansen made his first appearance for the club since the 2-1 home victory against Sky Bet Championship outfit Queens Park Rangers in the Emirates FA Cup, as he replaced Alphonse Areola with the Frenchman dropping to the bench, while new loan signing Axel Disasi was thrown straight into the starting line-up, as he took the place of the suspended Jean-Clair Todibo in defence and Callum Wilson was preferred to Pablo Felipe in attack, pairing with Valentín Castellanos up top. Adama Traoré was once again amongst the Irons’ substitutes.

James Ward-Prowse will have to wait for his home debut for his new club, as he was ineligible to feature in this encounter.

Just like the reverse fixture back on 8 November, it took time for the contest to provide a spark but in complete contrast to the match in Stratford, it was the visitors who edged ahead. Crysencio Summerville had only scored one league goal for the club when he opened the scoring in their recent London derby win at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium back on January 17. Well, the winger has gone on to score in every game since. He lifted the ball over the advancing Martin Dúbravka and give the Londoners a vital advantage.

Scott Parker’s Clarets had only picked up single points in games against Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur recently and it was easy to see why here. Espírito Santo’s men kept applying pressure and it paid off, as they were further in front after twenty six minutes. Mateus Fernandes had played a part in setting up Summerville and the pair were involved in playing in Castellanos for his first Premier League goal since arriving in East London back on 5 January. The midfielder’s pass was flicked on by Summerville. El Hadji Malick Diouf collected possession then took a touch, before crossing for the Argentine to head past a helpless Dúbravka.

The home side then threatened a way back into the game but thankfully, they couldn’t muster anything that would have really troubled Hermansen, as the efforts that came his way from both Lesley Ugochukwu and Zian Flemming were easy for him to handle.

Jaidon Anthony and Marcus Edwards both tried their luck too, but Hermansen was in no mood to be beaten

The 2-0 half-time scoreline proved to be a dangerous one last weekend but with Burnley not having won since 26 October, it was difficult to see how they would find a way back from the same deficit here.

Despite a nervous early spell from the visitors at the start of the second-half, The majority inside the stadium saw their team fashion nine goal attempts after the break the Irons remained resilient and made sure that there wouldn’t be a repeat of last week’s turnaround in West London.

The West Ham fans who had made the long journey to Lancashire were delighted that certain members of their team denied Flemming on three separate occasions, as the former Millwall striker tried to pull a goal back. He was also thwarted by Aaron Wan-Bissaka earlier in the match after he followed up an effort from Edwards.

Espírito Santo wanted his team to regain some control in midfield, so he made his first change eleven minutes after the break. He introduced Freddie Potts in place of Wilson.

That particular tactic didn’t work when the Irons visited AFC Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium back on November 22 but it was no problem here, as Summerville might have had a second goal, had it not been for the alertness of Dúbravka.

Espírito Santo’s team looked comfortable but obviously wanted to add more goals. Summerville was close to a second, but his shot was straight at Dúbravka, while captain Jarrod Bowen had a sight of goal but fired wide.

The visiting skipper could have set up Summerville minutes later, but he got too much power on his cross. Had the winger got his delivery right, the Dutchman would have been presented with a tap-in.

Both managers then made substitutions with seventy eight minutes gone. The Hammers’ Head-Coach replaced both Diouf and Castellanos with youngster Oliver Scarles and Pablo Felipe, while Parker threw on Armando Broja to take the place of Ugochukwu.

The Clarets were again putting their opponents under pressure but neither Anthony, nor Bashir Humphreys could get past Hermansen.

Konstantinos Mavropanos produced a vital block to prevent substitute Broja from getting what would have been a late consolation goal.

A fourth and final change was made for West Ham in stoppage time as Kyle Walker-Peters entered the fray for Bowen.

When referee Darren England blew the final whistle, the East Londoners had two reasons to celebrate, not only had they accumulated another three points, but they had also registered their first clean sheet since their first success on their travels at Nottingham Forest all the way back on 31 August.

West Ham will obviously want to keep this run of good form at going but, unlike when they faced them at Old Trafford back on December 4, Manchester United now look a completely different proposition, so it will surely be a much tougher test in Stratford on Tuesday night.