The early kick-off in the Premier League on Sunday saw West Ham host Hull City. West Ham are doing well so far this season, but have suffered a few setbacks in recent games, while Hull City currently sit in the relegation places, desperate for a win and to turn their season around. Hull also have a lot of their key players out through injury and the odds looked against them as they went into the game.
Sone Aluko was given a rare chance in the starting line-up from Steve Bruce due to the long injury list, and he looked ready to take it by the scruff of the neck. He started the game very brightly, having a half chance and a soft penalty call within the first 30 seconds of the match. He kept pushing and forcing corners from the West Ham defenders, but he just couldn't create a clear cut chance. On 6 minutes, Ahmed Elmohamady had a great chance, but he could only steer the ball past the post.
This seemed to wake West Ham up a bit, with Aaron Cresswell going up the other end on 7 minutes and creating a similar chance to that of Elmohamady's. Just a minute later, Enner Valencia had the chance to put West Ham ahead, but again, could only send the ball flying past the outside of the post.
Hull enjoyed a lot of possession in the first half, but they just struggled to create a clear cut chance or to get the ball into the box. Aluko had another great chance on 24 minutes, but he didn't take the first opportunity and couldn't decide which foot to take the shot with, so James Tompkins hastily cut it out. Another opportunity presented itself to Aluko on 27 minutes, but that was quickly snuffed out as well. The Hull players just seemed to want too long on the ball and tried to over play the ball in the West Ham box. This was proving to be their downfall.
Again, Hull enjoyed a lot of possession, and they were happy to pass the ball around but without pressing forward or causing the West Ham back line any problems. Then on 41 minutes, West Ham got a corner, and it was very scrappy. A few attempts to get the ball into the back of the net failed and a relieved Allan McGregor managed to hold onto the ball in the end. The frailties in Hull's defence were beginning to show...
After the break, Hull had some more defensive and injury problems. James Chester went off just before half time with a suspected dislocated shoulder and Alex Bruce didn't re-emerge because of a thigh injury. This seemed to prove to be Hull's downfall. Almost instantly, Stewart Downing was running through acres of space before Kevin Nolan's shot was blasted just over the cross bar.
2 minutes later, Valencia hit a shot from outside the box which forced McGregor to make the save, but all he could do was simply palm it away into the path of Andy Carroll, who was in the right place at the right time to slot the ball home. Hull became very shaky after the goal went in and couldn't find their rhythm from the first half again.
Steve Bruce did try to change the formation around, moving Harry Maguire into a forward position to try and get a goal back. Sam Allardyce responded with a change of his own, bringing on Morgan Amalfitano for Mark Noble.
Michael Dawson had his heart in his mouth at one moment, when his pass across his own 18 yard box to Elmohamady got intercepted by Valencia, but all he could do was turn it into the side netting after the angle had been closed down.
Shortly after this moment, Amalfitano, who was just onside, was played in by Valencia. With no defenders around him, he calmly chipped the ball over McGregor into the back of the net. This prompted Steve Bruce to make another change, choosing to move Maguire back into defence and bring on Yannick Sagbo. The reshuffle didn't have the desired effect as 3 minutes after the second goal; West Ham had scored their third. A through ball from Alex Song played Downing in and his shot slipped past McGregor into the bottom right corner of the goal.
This left too big a mountain to climb for Hull. Jake Livermore has a speculative effort from outside the box saved by Adrian. However, there was another scare for the Hull defenders when Nolan's tight angled shot rebounded off the crossbar towards the end of the 90 minutes.
Overall, it was a good performance by West Ham in the end. It does beg the question though: what if Hull had been more clinical and had taken their chances or created more? From this second half performance, it seems like they could have a long journey ahead of them to stay in the Premier League.
Sone Aluko was given a rare chance in the starting line-up from Steve Bruce due to the long injury list, and he looked ready to take it by the scruff of the neck. He started the game very brightly, having a half chance and a soft penalty call within the first 30 seconds of the match. He kept pushing and forcing corners from the West Ham defenders, but he just couldn't create a clear cut chance. On 6 minutes, Ahmed Elmohamady had a great chance, but he could only steer the ball past the post.
This seemed to wake West Ham up a bit, with Aaron Cresswell going up the other end on 7 minutes and creating a similar chance to that of Elmohamady's. Just a minute later, Enner Valencia had the chance to put West Ham ahead, but again, could only send the ball flying past the outside of the post.
Hull enjoyed a lot of possession in the first half, but they just struggled to create a clear cut chance or to get the ball into the box. Aluko had another great chance on 24 minutes, but he didn't take the first opportunity and couldn't decide which foot to take the shot with, so James Tompkins hastily cut it out. Another opportunity presented itself to Aluko on 27 minutes, but that was quickly snuffed out as well. The Hull players just seemed to want too long on the ball and tried to over play the ball in the West Ham box. This was proving to be their downfall.
Again, Hull enjoyed a lot of possession, and they were happy to pass the ball around but without pressing forward or causing the West Ham back line any problems. Then on 41 minutes, West Ham got a corner, and it was very scrappy. A few attempts to get the ball into the back of the net failed and a relieved Allan McGregor managed to hold onto the ball in the end. The frailties in Hull's defence were beginning to show...
After the break, Hull had some more defensive and injury problems. James Chester went off just before half time with a suspected dislocated shoulder and Alex Bruce didn't re-emerge because of a thigh injury. This seemed to prove to be Hull's downfall. Almost instantly, Stewart Downing was running through acres of space before Kevin Nolan's shot was blasted just over the cross bar.
2 minutes later, Valencia hit a shot from outside the box which forced McGregor to make the save, but all he could do was simply palm it away into the path of Andy Carroll, who was in the right place at the right time to slot the ball home. Hull became very shaky after the goal went in and couldn't find their rhythm from the first half again.
Steve Bruce did try to change the formation around, moving Harry Maguire into a forward position to try and get a goal back. Sam Allardyce responded with a change of his own, bringing on Morgan Amalfitano for Mark Noble.
Michael Dawson had his heart in his mouth at one moment, when his pass across his own 18 yard box to Elmohamady got intercepted by Valencia, but all he could do was turn it into the side netting after the angle had been closed down.
Shortly after this moment, Amalfitano, who was just onside, was played in by Valencia. With no defenders around him, he calmly chipped the ball over McGregor into the back of the net. This prompted Steve Bruce to make another change, choosing to move Maguire back into defence and bring on Yannick Sagbo. The reshuffle didn't have the desired effect as 3 minutes after the second goal; West Ham had scored their third. A through ball from Alex Song played Downing in and his shot slipped past McGregor into the bottom right corner of the goal.
This left too big a mountain to climb for Hull. Jake Livermore has a speculative effort from outside the box saved by Adrian. However, there was another scare for the Hull defenders when Nolan's tight angled shot rebounded off the crossbar towards the end of the 90 minutes.
Overall, it was a good performance by West Ham in the end. It does beg the question though: what if Hull had been more clinical and had taken their chances or created more? From this second half performance, it seems like they could have a long journey ahead of them to stay in the Premier League.
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