West Ham 4-2 Better Over Burnley
West Ham claimed a deserved victory over Burnley thanks to fine finishes from Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez and a Felipe Anderson double.
The Hammers opened the scoring when Arnautovic dispossessed James Tarkowski before racing clear and firing home before Johann Berg Gudmundsson slotted home to equalise just before the break.
West Ham retook the lead when the excellent Anderson curled a shot past Burnley keeper Joe Hart before second-half substitute Chris Wood’s thumping header hauled the visitors level again.
Anderson, who was at the heart of everything West Ham did well, scored his second of the match six minutes from time, capitalising on some sloppy Burnley defending.
Hernandez completed the victory in injury time with a fine dinked finish which finished off a move started by Anderson in midfield.
It was a deserved victory for Manuel Pellegrini’s side, whose previous victory was over Manchester United on September 29, are now 13th in the table two places above the Clarets.
Burnley, who have now lost six of their past nine games against West Ham, had Hart to thank on several occasions, with the former England and Manchester City goalkeeper saving well to deny Arnautovic either side of the break.
Despite a winless October, the Hammers dominated throughout, slicing through Burnley at will, with Anderson the key player.
The 25-year-old Brazilian took more touches (103) and played more passes (75) than anyone else on the pitch, illustrating his heavy influence on the game.
He scored West Ham’s second, with a precise finish after being found in space by the excellent Grady Diangana.
And he claimed his second goal to restore West Ham’s lead, his low shot cannoning into the net via a deflection off a despairing Ben Mee.
He was also involved in his side’s fourth, it was his sublime cross-field pass that began the attack which led to the goal.
West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini will hope Anderson, who joined from Lazio for £36m this summer, can use this performance as a springboard for his fledgling career.
Young Englishman Diangana also stood out. The 20-year-old winger was direct in his approach and he gave Clarets left-back Charlie Taylor a torrid afternoon.
He made five key passes, more than any of his team-mates, and provided the assist for the Hammers’ second goal
After successive thumpings by Manchester City and Chelsea, Clarets boss Sean Dyche would have looked at this match as one his side needed to take points from.
But despite their resilience, which saw them equalise twice, they did not deserve anything from the game.
They were forced onto the back foot from the first whistle and struggled to gain any momentum at any point.
Dyche was animated over what he thought was a foul in the build-up to West Ham’s second goal, but ultimately it proved inconsequential as the Brazilian stuck again before Hernandez added a fourth, consigning Burnley to their third defeat in a row.
They have conceded 13 goals in their past three league matches, and it could have been more against the Hammers with Mee and Hart both putting in impressive performances.
