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West Ham thrash Ipswich to earn first home league win
West Ham gained their first home Premier League win of the season as they overpowered newly promoted Ipswich Town, who remain without a victory since their top-flight return.
Goals from Michail Antonio, Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta gave the Hammers the three points and eased the pressure on manager Julen Lopetegui after an indifferent start since he replaced David Moyes as manager.
Antonio swept home Bowen’s low cross after 48 seconds, but in a frantic start Liam Delap equalised with Alphonse Areola unable to keep out his 18-yard strike, despite getting a hand to the ball.
Ipswich missed chances to move ahead and that, along with a number of defensive errors, proved costly.
Dara O'Shea cleared Tomas Soucek's effort off the line after Ipswich lost possession inside their own penalty area, but the hosts restored their lead when Kudus reacted quickest to head in from close range after Antonio's header had bounced off the crossbar and down on to the goalline.
But the hosts dominated after the break and Bowen, left out of England's squad for the Nations League matches against Greece and Finland, put the game beyond Ipswich with a fine low strike.
The goal once more came from a defensive error from Ipswich. Ben Johnson's looped backpass asked a lot of goalkeeper Arijanet Muric, but he could not control the ball and lost possession with Bowen grabbing his second goal of the season shortly after.
His second assist of the afternoon followed later on, with a square pass with the outside of his boot, with Paqueta tapping in unmarked from close range for West Ham's fourth on a miserable day for the visitors.
Hammers punish sloppy Ipswich
For Ipswich it was a painful lesson after they had fought back from conceding inside the opening minute, courtesy of Delap's fourth goal for the club since his £20m move from Manchester City.
Kieran McKenna's side had won successive promotions to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2001-02 and had come into this game on the back of four successive draws, against Brighton, Fulham, Southampton and Aston Villa.
But Ipswich's defending looked like that of a second-tier side, with the hosts ruthlessly dispatching the errors.
England midfielder Kalvin Phillips, who had an unsuccessful spell on loan at London Stadium last season, lost possession early on, with the outstanding Bowen setting up Antonio for his first goal of the season.
Delap equalised shortly afterwards in a frantic start and Ipswich, backed by a sold out and noisy away support, had chances to go ahead.
But a warning of things to come came when a mix-up between goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and captain Sam Morsy gifted the ball to West Ham, with only O'Shea's clearance keeping it level.
Kudus' goal just before half-time was a vital moment, with the Hammers, buoyed by that advantage, massively improving after the break.
However, Bowen's goal again came from an Ipswich error and McKenna will be wondering how Paqueta was left with so much space to add a fourth as the Hammers cruised to victory.
Ipswich's record now stands at four draws and three defeats from their seven league games in their first Premier League campaign since 2001-02 and they will need to learn from and improve on this second-half performance if they are to avoid an immediate return to the Championship.
West Ham had lost at home to Aston Villa, Manchester City and Chelsea but this three points will give them a massive boost as they move up to 12th, while Ipswich drop to 17th, just one point above the relegation zone.
Source: BBC
