Premier LeagueWest Ham United 4-1 Ipswich Town
Saturday, 5th October 2024
by Chris Wilkerson | Forum match thread
West Ham United secured their first home points of the season this Saturday afternoon as they ran through newly promoted Ipswich to win 4-1.
An early Michail Antonio goal was cancelled out by a Rory Delap equaliser inside an exciting opening 10 minutes, but West Ham's quality shone through to hand Julen Lopetegui his first home win in charge of the Irons.Going into the international break, a questionable start had seen grey clouds gathering over this team, and a convincing win is exactly what the club and the manager needed.
His side were unchanged from the side that battled for a draw last weekend at Brentford, looking to find some consistency as they searched for their first home points of the season.
Ipswich came to the London Stadium for the first time, with two former Hammers along for the ride as one-time loanee Kalvin Phillips came back to London, and was joined in the starting lineup by Ben Johnson, with their team on a run of four consecutive draws.
The match couldn't have started better for Lopetegui's side. In fact, it never has for West Ham in a Premier League game. Just 48 seconds into the game, the home side found the back of the net.
If you think you've seen this goal before, then you have. This was just the first time West Ham have benefitted from Kalvin Phillips gifting opponents possession at the London Stadium.
The midfielder took too long on the ball and rushed his pass, but it was loose and short, perfect for Antonio to sneak in on. He was tackled, but it rolled to Soucek and the midfielder played a wonderfully weighted pass instantly to Bowen out wide.
The Ipswich defence retreated as the winger drove at them and pushed on towards the box. No defender closed him down, and by the time one looked to, Bowen had fired in a low cross that skimmed off the surface right into Antonio's path.
Without having to alter his step, the striker smashed the ball low and hard into the back of the net from less than 10 yards out, in the centre of the box, and West Ham had an opening goal inside the first minute.
It was a relief of stress, the tension that could have built in this game blown away. This has been more than a disappointing start. Arguably, the manager's problem has been that the games have also lacked entertainment. A quick goal stopped any of the resentment building in the crowd.
Not that they had too long to dwell on it. Ipswich have shown fight and heart in abundance this season, and this game perfectly encapsulated just why they will be fondly thought throughout the year. Determined, willing and naive. Their football has an innocence about it that The Hammers eventually exposed.
But that's the kind of honest mentality that sees a team try to graft their way through the adversity of conceding early. This time, it earned them an early equaliser.
It came from a corner, and from a glut of mistakes. The ball itself wasn't dangerous, sailing over all and sundry in the middle of the box. But Delap quickly turned to rescue the ball, stopping it bouncing and rolling out of the area.
The striker took it away from goal, towards the edge of the box. Paqueta tried to take it from him, but the midfielder needed to be patient, hold his man and keep his back to goal. Instead, by trying to burst in front and steal the ball, he was easily knocked aside by the big striker, and Delap suddenly turned and hit a low shot to the near post.
That shot should have been blocked by the defenders that had backed up Paqueta, but none had reacted and it rifled into the bottom corner.
Not right into the bottom corner, not far enough that Areola didn't get a firm hand to it, but the goalkeeper was caught out by the surprise shot and could only divert it on into the back of his net. He should have done much better.
It became an open game, with fascinating battles and comparisons all over the pitch: the elegance of Todibo versus the physicality of Delap; the slippery skill of Kudus and the suffocating defending of Ben Johnson; the big old boy up top in Antonio and the naive defending of O'Shea and Greaves in newly-promoted Ipswich's defence.
Even the contrast in the performances of Phillips and the likes of both Rodriguez and Soucek, both of whom played simplified games and made none of the mistakes of the now Ipswich midfielder. It was in winning all of these battles that West Ham won the game.
There were chances throughout the half for both sides - this West Ham takes and allows more shots - but that final bit of quality was often missing. They built, a game of intrigue bursting to action after half an hour, and both teams will feel they should have taken the lead before Kudus eventually did.
Delap beat Todibo once all game, tricking him down the line and then driving from wide into the box, only to go down. Thankfully, the referee saw the two come together naturally.
Wan-Bissaka failed to clear, and Greaves should have given his side the lead from the resulting freekick, missing goal when up early from six yards out.
A minute later, Kudus missed an open goal. After Bowen did great work getting into the box, his shot was blocked and flew out wide. Antonio delivered it back beautifully, bending to the far post. Muric got under it, flapping at nothing, leaving Kudus behind him to head home. But the Ghanaian tried to finish too well, aiming into the corner of the open goal, and hitting the post as the goal lay gaping.
Breathlessly, it continued, Ipswich playing out from the goal kick, but unsuccessfully, Paqueta intercepted a pass in the box and instantly squared to Soucek, who stumbled to gather his feet and then squeezed an effort under pressure towards the corner of the goal, only for O'Shea to clear off the line.
Both sides were knocking, Paqueta shooting from the edge of the box the next minute, but it was West Ham who were on top. A minute before half-time, they made the breakthrough.
It was excellence between Paqueta and Emerson that got the latter into space, and he burst down the side of the box before crossing. Antonio rose and powered a header at goal, beating Muric but not the bar.
Slapping down off the crossbar, the ball came back off the line and looped up right in front of the goal. Two men jumped, but it was Kudus who got higher and stayed there, beating Soucek in the air to nod in from a yard out and grab his first goal of the season, and the lead for his team.
Wan-Bissaka had a nice little half-volley saved well by Muric to end an entertaining half as West Ham went in ahead in a game that seemed certain for more goals.
And it only took four minutes for West Ham to get their third, and it was classic Jarrod Bowen. It came from nothing, but it was a moment that summed up why Ben Johnson can be both a wonderful defender and a player West Ham won't regret releasing.
Under very little, if any pressure, Johnson panicked just inside his own half as a high ball dropped to him. The right back tried to volley it back to his goalkeeper, which was a 50 yard pass back for Muric to control out of the air.
It looped high back to him, with Antonio chasing every step of the way, leading the goalkeeper to have to take down and control the ball at pace with a hulking figure racing down on him.
The touch was loose enough for Antonio to tackle the ?EUR~keeper. The ball flew out to Bowen, who calmly controlled and started out to goal. Phillips jockeyed him, but appeared to have learned nothing from half a season playing with his opponent. The midfielder left Bowen with plenty of space to comfortably shift the ball and smash it home across goal and into the far corner. Out of nothing, Ipswich had given West Ham the breathing room they needed.
The tension was gone from the game, with West Ham relaxing and playing nice football, whilst Ipswich played neatly but ineffectively. Kudus should have extended that lead further, Bowen clipping the ball beautifully over the Ipswich defence as Kudus ran off his man. He flicked a boot out to poke it at goal, but Muric was right behind it.
Ipswich's moment, their chance to get back into it, came with 25 minutes to go. Soucek lost the ball in the West Ham half, and it was as quickly out to the right as it was crossed into the box. Delap peeled away from his man and climbed to meet the ball and head down at goal.
It was a great header, redirecting the ball and powering it down, and Areola looked beaten. But the Frenchman found his Gordon Banks moment, getting down and clawing it from almost behind him as it bounced back up off the deck a couple yards from goal. 25 minutes defending a one-goal lead would have put a lot of pressure on this fragile side; the save stopped a panicked finish.
If that got Ipswich tails up, five minutes later the game was completely over. Confidence flowing, The Hammers played out from the back, finding Antonio down the right wing. The striker turned quickly and played a ball through to Bowen further down the line.
He got to the byline in the box and used the outside of his left boot to cut a ball between the defence and the goalkeeper, across the six-yard box, and right onto the boot of Paqueta, who had carried on his run from midfield and arrived perfectly to ghost in and tap into an empty net.
All the subs came on, Luis Guilherme even making a debut, and West Ham fan Sammie Szmodics got on for the visitors and missed a glorious chance to score at the home of the team he loved.
It was a great way to sign off for the international break, getting those first home points of the season and a bit of positivity that this new era needed.
Manager's Rating
Julen Lopetegui: 8/10 Built on the performance from last week and his idea seemed to come together on the pitch for the first time.
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Click to view all West Ham United vs Ipswich Town match reports Click to view all match reports by Chris Wilkerson Like to share your thoughts on this article? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.Player Ratings
Click on any player's name to view their full KUMB bio, including all historical match notes and ratings/10.Alphonse Areola
One very good save counters out the poor goalkeeping for Ipswich's goal. The attention may be put on Paqueta, but the goalkeeper was poor.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka
Another solid performance with the right back an outlet, but it is clear he isn't ideal for the system he's being played in. Either poor habits or misunderstanding instructions is leaving him slotting into more central areas and leaving space wide.
Emerson Palmieri
A strong defensive performance against a tricky winger, and then an excellent cross that sets up the second goal.
Jean Clair Todibo
This was a real test for him, a classic English centre forward, a big hulking figure, and he was not intimidated or bullied. He even started to show ball carrying ability and ever-increasing composure on the ball.
Max Kilman
Delap tried to test Todibo, and it failed. Kilman had an easier, more controlled game.
Guido Rodriguez
Calm, simple, controlled. Phillips tries too much, Rodriguez keeps it quiet.
Tomas Soucek
He's improving on the ball, finding better spaces and choosing simple passes when he does get involved.
Lucas Paqueta
A goal he deserved for following in the run and for trying to create all game. It was a basic error for the Ipswich opener, but not a major one.
Michail Antonio
His best performance in quite some time, Antonio was allowed to bully his defenders and he did it with joy. The whole team looked better because they finally had an effective centre forward.
Jarrod Bowen
Played himself into form as the game went on, which was helped by a team that just didn't want to stop him playing. His assists and goal were all far too easy.
Mohamed Kudus
Johnson did really well for about 40 minutes of the first half, but when Kudus came alive, he has stardust that others don't.
Substitutes
Edson Alvarez(Replaced Rodriguez 69) Busy and active, but in a game his side had already won.
Carlos Soler
(Replaced Antonio 69) Neat, tidy, forgettable.
Crysencio Summerville
(Replaced Paqueta 82) A cameo that achieved little.
Aaron Cresswell
(Replaced Emerson 82) Much the same, you wouldn't remember he'd come on if he hadn't smashed a freekick over from range.
Luis Guilherme
(Replaced Kudus 85) A debut. Nice to see him.
Lukasz Fabianski
Did not play.
Vladimir Coufal
Did not play.
Konstantinos Mavropanos
Did not play.
Danny Ings
Did not play.
Match Facts
West Ham United: Alphonse Areola, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Emerson Palmieri, Jean Clair Todibo, Max Kilman, Guido Rodriguez, Tomas Soucek, Lucas Paqueta, Michail Antonio, Jarrod Bowen, Mohamed Kudus.Goals: Michail Anotnio 1 Mohammed Kudus 44 Jarrod Bowen 49 Lucas Paqueta 69 .
Booked: None booked. .
Sent Off: None sent off. .
Ipswich Town: Muric, Johnson, Greaves, O’Shea, Davis, Morsy, Phillips (Taylor 74), Burns (Ogbene 74), Hutchinson (Chaplin 83), J Clarke (Szmodics 73), Delap (Hirst 83).
Subs not used: Walton, H Clarke, Woolfenden, Townsend.
Goals: Delap (6).
Booked: Clarke.
Sent off: None.
Referee: Anthony Taylor.
Attendance: 62,467.
Man of the Match: Jarrod Bowen.