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West Ham 4-2 Brentford
by Paul Donovan
at the London Stadium
WEST HAM got back to winning ways with this comprehensive demolition of Brentford at the London Stadium.
Jarrod Bowen was the star of the night, taking home the match ball after netting three times, while covering every blade of grass.
The home side didn’t waste any time, scoring via Bowen in the fourth and sixth minutes. The first goal came from a slick movement involving Tomas Soucek, Lucas Paqueta and Emerson, with Bowen firing home from the left side of the area.
The second, saw Mohammed Kudus and Vladimir Coufal combining to set up a finish for Bowen.
Brentford quickly hit back, showing how easy it could be to cut through the West Ham rearguard.
Ivan Toney put in Keane Lewis-Potter in plenty of space, to set up Neal Maupay who fired home.
There were more chances for West Ham, Soucek putting two over from good positions, while Paqueta was unlucky with a volley that went just wide.
Bowen completed his hat trick in the second half, as Kudus found him with a cross in the centre of the penalty area. He duly headed home.
Another Kudus cross came out to Emerson who fired home into the top right hand corner for the goal of the night.
Substitute Yoane Wissa fired home with 10 minutes to go, but it proved only to be a consolation.
Alphonse Areola pulled off a couple of point-blank saves in extra time, but it was to be West Ham's night.
Hammers manager David Moyes felt that the return of Paqueta made all the difference.
“He has a huge impact on the team and crowd,” said Moyes.
The manager felt that Bowen’s goals should get him back into England manager Gareth Southgate’s thinking.
In terms of form, Moyes highlighted how most teams have difficult periods and difficult months, and West Ham are no different.
“We are trying to become more consistent and reliable,” said Moyes. “We’ve struggled at times to get the best team out.”
A great result for the Scotsman, who has been coming under some totally unwarranted pressure recently. The east Londoners move up to eighth, no doubt hoping to climb back into the European qualification positions.
