- West Ham defeated Leeds United 3-0 on Sunday afternoon
- Despite the win, the Hammers were relegated from the Premier League
- Taty Castellanos, Jarrod Bowen and Callum Wilson were all on the scoresheet
Despite beating Leeds United 3-0, West Ham United were relegated from the Premier League on Sunday, ending their 14-year stay in the English top flight.
Nuno Espírito Santo’s side knew going into the season finale that only a victory and an Everton victory at Tottenham Hotspur would keep the club in the Premier League.
Spurs’ 1-0 win over former West Ham boss David Moyes’ Blues rendered the Hammers’ result meaningless and means they are relegated with 39 points, two behind Spurs’ 41.
An expected lively London Stadium set the pre-match stage with no empty seats in sight; however, Taty Castellanos, Jarrod Bowen, and Callum Wilson’s goals would not be enough to overturn a dire season.
First-half
Nuno’s preference for a back four immediately gave West Ham an aggressive outlook, one that Leeds’ Brenden Aaronson almost exposed after latching onto a straight-line through ball from Jayden Bogle before being denied a 1v1 by Tomáš Souček in the opening minute.
Despite the onus being on the Hammers, it was the visitors who started with the spark as a lofted ball to Dominic Calvert-Lewin allowed the Leeds’ wing-backs to get up the pitch, but James Justin’s attempted shot was unable to be turned in by Calvert-Lewin’s striker partner, Lukas Nmecha, who was practically on the goal line.
In the 12th minute, West Ham’s first sustained foray into the Leeds box would yield a free-kick from 25 yards out. The resulting ball would cause chaos in the box of challengers, as crosses from El Hadji Malick Diouf, Bowen, and Crysencio Summerville eventually led to Pablo registering the Hammers’ first credible chance, which was deflected high and wide.
Leeds’ ‘keeper attempts to be creative with his build-up play, which would be intercepted by Valentín Castellanos before being collected by Mateus Fernandes, who would unleash a testing long-range effort that required a strong stop from Karl Darlow.
After the mid-half water break, which clearly allowed Nuno and his coaching company to offer out instructions, West Ham’s play would stagnate. In fact, it was Leeds regaining their territorial dominance as Nmecha did well to set up Calvert-Lewin, only for Mads Hermansen to make himself big.
Just before the break, Castellanos and Pablo would combine, but as has been shown in the pair’s time in claret and blue, nothing sufficient would come from it. Minutes later, the latter would be at the end of another half-chance but could only find the side-netting, maintaining his jaw-dropping 0% conversion rate.
The hosts would leave the pitch to the backdrop of boos, not only for the uninspired performance but also because, as it stood, the club were a Championship side as Spurs took the lead in their game.
Second-half
After the interval, West Ham’s play saw an immediate uptick as Wilson – introduced for Pablo – trapped the ball and played in Castellanos, but the Argentine dabbled on the ball and was eventually halted by a mix of defenders and goalkeepers.
After an injection of intent, Summerville and Diouf would combine down the left to enter the Leeds box, but the former’s effort would be blocked. A two-man transition attack from Summerville and Castellanos would get West Ham up the pitch at a rapid pace, but nothing would come from it as the two were unable to knit any synergy on the run.
A momentary break in play at the hour mark would allow Nuno to reconvene with his players, and it would prove fruitful to change the general direction the game was taking as Castellanos headed home Bowen’s corner.
Just over 10 minutes after adding his 11th league assist – the third-most in club history – Bowen latched onto Mateus Fernandes’ wergithed pass and finished with aplomb from the right channel in trademark fashion.
Leeds’ purpose wouldn’t wilt as Joël Piroe had an effort on goal. Substitute Wilson dribbled into the box but was unable to add the finishing touch. He would smash home a third from the edge of the box to put further polish on the scoreline, but it wouldn’t be enough as West Ham were officially relegated from the Premier League minutes after the final whistle.
Teams
West Ham: Hermansen; Walker-Peters, Mavropanos, Disasi, Diouf; Soucek, Mateus Fernandes; Bowen, Pablo (Wilson ’46), Summervilla; Castellanos (Kante ’88).
Subs not used: Areola (GK), Kilman, Lamadrid, Magassa, Potts, Scarles, Wan-Bissaka.
Goals: Castellanos (’67), Bowen (’79), Wilson (’94)
Leeds United: Darlow; Bogle (Buonanotte ’79), Rodon, Bijol (James ’70), Struijk, Justin; Ampadu, Aaronson (Bornauw ’91), Tanaka (Piroe ’79); Nmecha, Calvert-Lewin (Gnonto ’69).
Subs not used: Byram, Chadwick, Cresswell, Perri.
Booked: Bijol (’10), Aaronson (’25), Ampadu (’87)
Referee: Anthony Taylor
VAR: John Brooks
Attendance: 62,471
