3 days ago
14
The unfamiliar sensation coursing through West Ham is hope. Seemingly down and out after their devastating defeat to Nottingham Forest earlier this month, the prospect of Nuno Espírito Santo masterminding the unlikeliest of escapes feels far from outlandish after seeing his side treat the London Stadium to the rare sensation of a performance full of craft, desire and tactical intelligence.
Sunderland were blown away by three goals inside the first 43 minutes. They looked stunned by West Ham’s intensity and quality in attack. Jarrod Bowen was outstanding, Crysencio Summerville scored for the third time in as many games and the brilliance of Mateus Fernandes in midfield suggested that West Ham will be able to cope if they grant Lucas Paquetá his wish to join Flamengo.
Of course, West Ham remain outsiders to stay up despite recording back-to-back wins in all competitions. They are two points below Forest before Sean Dyche’s side visit Brentford on Sunday and remain without a clean sheet since August. Yet Nuno has to take heart from this mini-revival, even if Sunderland were the most obliging of guests.
West Ham, who are closing in on a deal for the Fulham winger Adama Traoré, had to build on last weekend’s win over Tottenham. Nuno named an unchanged side and looked to attack. West Ham were in an old-fashioned 4-4-2, with Pablo Felipe and Taty Castellanos leading the line, and placed much of their focus on finding Bowen and Summerville in space on the wings.
Sunderland met the threat by putting Trai Hume on the right of midfield, where he was tasked with tracking Summerville’s movement. Yet there was a crispness to West Ham. They were without Paquetá, still nursing a sore back, but they are making light of the Brazilian’s absence in midfield and did not take long to find gaps in Sunderland’s defence.
It was 1-0 when the ball reached Bowen on the right in the 14th minute. Reinildo Mandava showed the England winger down the outside but the move backfired. Bowen had time to deliver with his weaker right foot and his ball into the middle was a peach, inviting Summerville to charge in front of Nordi Mukiele, leap like Andy Carroll and send a bullet header past Robin Roefs.
Sunderland, who struggled without the injured Granit Xhaka in midfield, looked a mess at the back. They have not won away in the league since 25 October and will not be able to sustain their push for European football without an improvement on the road.
The home fans, some of whom waited until the 15th minute to turn up as they continued protests against the club’s board, watched in disbelief. They liked Castellanos’s hustle and are loving the resurgence of Summerville, who is finally shedding the flakiness and showing that he can be an effective presence on the left wing.
The frustration for Sunderland is they threatened at 0-0 and spurned chances to equalise. Yet they could have no complaints. West Ham were the hungrier side and led 2-0 when Hume’s lazy trip on Ollie Scarles gave Bowen the chance to send a cool penalty past Roefs in the 28th minute.
Bowen tormented Reinildo, who was lucky not to be sent off, and has now overtaken Michail Antonio’s record of 101 goal involvements for West Ham in the Premier League. Yet he cannot do it alone. Help came from another fine midfield display from Fernandes, who killed Sunderland off when he collected a poor clearance and bent a beautiful shot beyond Roefs from 25 yards in the 43rd minute.
West Ham had not led 3-0 at half-time since beating Bournemouth in April 2023, back when David Moyes was in charge. Three managers later, there is a sense of cautious optimism. There is still work to do on the defence, though. Sunderland made three substitutes at half-time and pulled a goal back when Jean-Clair Todibo stepped out of position in the 66th minute, Habib Diarra released Mukiele and the defender crossed for Brian Brobbey to head home.
