West Ham United made it back-to-back Championship victories with a commanding 3-0 win over Derby County at London Stadium.
Joël Piroe opened the scoring after only six minutes before West Ham controlled the contest and prevented Derby from registering a single shot on target.
Deadline Day signing Edvin Austbø then marked his second West Ham appearance with a late goal after coming off the bench, before a stoppage-time third completed a convincing afternoon for Nuno Espírito Santo’s side.
The victory follows Tuesday’s 4-2 win over Wolves and suddenly gives West Ham genuine momentum after a frustrating start to life back in the Championship.
Piroe gives West Ham perfect start
Nuno made two changes from the Wolves victory, with Joël Veltman and Taty Castellanos coming into the starting XI.
But it was Piroe who immediately justified retaining his place in attack.
The Leeds loanee struck after just six minutes from close range to give West Ham an early advantage. ESPN recorded the opportunity at 0.95 xG, underlining the quality of the chance.
West Ham continued creating openings.
Jarrod Bowen was particularly active, registering seven attempts during the match, while Derby goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterström was forced into four saves.
It was a considerably more controlled performance than Tuesday’s chaotic win over Wolves.
Our West Ham vs Derby preview had identified the need to turn that breakthrough victory into sustained momentum.
Nuno’s side did exactly that.
West Ham finally shut the door
The biggest improvement came at the other end.
West Ham had conceded in each of their opening four Championship matches against Burnley, Charlton, Watford and Wolves.
Derby barely threatened to extend that sequence.
The Rams finished with only 0.10 expected goals and no shots on target, despite having 48 per cent possession. West Ham, by comparison, produced 3.06 xG and six efforts on target.
Max Kilman and Konstantinos Mavropanos therefore completed West Ham’s first Championship clean sheet of the campaign.
That matters almost as much as the three goals.
West Ham’s attacking quality has rarely been in question, but defensive instability had made several of their early games unnecessarily difficult.
Saturday was different.
Supporters can follow the developing promotion campaign through our West Ham fixtures and results guide.
Austbø makes immediate West Ham impact
Nuno was also able to use the depth created during the final days of the transfer window.
Adama Boiro came on for Ollie Scarles after 77 minutes, while Austbø replaced Manor Solomon at the same time. Morato was also handed late minutes.
Austbø needed only ten minutes to make his mark.
The Norwegian, signed from Viking at the end of August, struck in the 87th minute to make the victory comfortable. ESPN’s match feed records it as his first West Ham goal.
That is exactly the type of impact Nuno would have wanted from his strengthened bench.
The full range of new options can be tracked through our West Ham squad guide.
A further goal in stoppage time put the finishing touch on a dominant win.
From one league victory in four matches to two in five, the mood around West Ham has changed quickly.
Wolves provided the breakthrough.
Derby provided evidence that it might become a run.
Comments.
Loading comments…