West Ham United overcame a frantic start to secure a much-needed first home win of the Premier League season against Ipswich Town as a free-flowing performance gave them a 4-1 victory.
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Michail Antonio got the hosts off to a flyer at London Stadium on Saturday with a goal after only 48 seconds, but Liam Delap provided a rapid response just five minutes later to level the contest.
West Ham, however, regained composure and made their dominance pay when Mohammed Kudus restored the lead just before half-time.
Captain Jarrod Bowen, who assisted Antonio's goal, and Lucas Paqueta added to the scoreline after the break as the hosts ultimately claimed a comprehensive triumph to end a poor run of form that had seen them fail to register a win across September.
A convincing defeat for Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich means they remain winless and hover just one point above the bottom three in 17th, while West Ham rise to 12th in the early league table.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
11 | 0 | 15 |
| 13 |
Man Utd
MUN
|
11 | 0 | 15 |
| 14 |
West Ham
WHU
|
11 | -6 | 12 |
| 15 |
Leicester
LEI
|
11 | -7 | 10 |
| 16 |
Everton
EVE
|
11 | -7 | 10 |
| 17 |
Ipswich
IPS
|
11 | -10 | 8 |
| 18 |
Crystal Palace
CRY
|
11 | -7 | 7 |
How the match unfolded
West Ham got off to the perfect start when Bowen was set free down the right by Tomas Soucek and the England international surged into the penalty area before squaring to Antonio, who side-footed home from the centre of the box.
But Delap provided the perfect response for Ipswich. After chasing down West Ham’s clearance from a corner, he unleashed a low, stinging shot inside the near post.
Soucek had a shot blocked from close range before Kudus met Antonio’s curling cross from the right at the back post, but the Ghanaian’s header hit the post before being cleared.
The hosts’ substantial pressure finally told as they regained the lead. Having come so close previously, Kudus’ header found the net this time, as he nodded in a rebound after Antonio’s own aerial attempt had powered off the crossbar.
West Ham had their third inside four minutes of the second half as Bowen cut in from the right to threaten. This time he fired a low shot past Arijanet Muric at the far post.
Ipswich nearly found a route back into the game in the 65th minute when Wes Burns’ cross found Delap in the box, but Alphonse Areola did superbly to save his low header.
But it was the hosts who struck at the other end to settle the match 21 minutes from time. Bowen once more found space down the right and he crossed for Paqueta to tap into an empty net from close range.
Bowen at his brilliant best
From his assist in the opening minute, Bowen proved a constant thorn in the side of the Ipswich defence.
The opener was of his creation. Having picked the ball up halfway into the Ipswich half, he powered forward to find space to the right of the box before curling in a low, inch-perfect pass on a plate for Antonio.
He had shots saved and then blocked within minutes of each other in the first 10 minutes as the promoted visitors barely managed to keep him at bay.
Bowen’s goal in the 49th minute seemed only a matter of time and exemplified his attacking threat. The forward came alive on the right of the box under pressure from former West Ham man Kalvin Phillips before cutting inside with a burst of pace to fire in an impressive low finish.
His influence endured as he could have easily been awarded the assist for Paqueta’s clinching strike had his cross not caught a slight deflection on its way in from the right.
A goal and an assist that could have been more earned him a deserved player-of-the-match award and West Ham will hope for more of the same from their skipper after the international break.
Leaky defence leads to visitors' downfall
The writing looked like it was on the wall for McKenna’s men after just 48 seconds, with West Ham’s forward line immediately breaking through their shaky defence.
Four goals conceded in this one means the visitors have let in 14 already this season, which will be a blow after appearing to have tightened up in recent weeks, drawing their previous four matches.
Too often, West Ham were able to make entries into the Ipswich box, with the promoted side frequently relying on last-ditch blocks and close-range saves to prevent the scoreline from becoming an embarrassing one.
The woodwork also proved Ipswich’s saviour in the 38th minute when Kudus directed his header on to the post when it appeared easier to score.
They faced a West Ham attack that has not exactly dazzled so far this season, with the Hammers almost doubling their starting goal tally of six during the fixture.
West Ham did click upfront, but Ipswich did little to curb their attacking flow once they had found their rhythm and paid the price with a resounding defeat that makes their first match after the international break against Everton even more important.
Club reports
West Ham report | Ipswich report
What the managers said
Julen Lopetegui: "We had a very good mentality, we kept looking for goals and in the end we achieved a good victory. We started very well, but suffered a very early equalising goal. I think after that we had a very good mentality, we kept strong and we deserved to score before we did get the second."
Kieran McKenna: "It was a poor game for us and a strange game. We were competitive for long spells of the first half and we gave away a goal early, came back with a good attitude. We conceded poor goals at poor times and in general we didn't deal with the direct play well enough."
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Key facts
Antonio’s opener after just 48 seconds was West Ham’s earliest Premier League goal on record (since 2006-07).
Ipswich are now winless in their first seven Premier League games in 2024/25 (D4 L3), their joint-longest run without victory at the start of top-flight season in their history (also seven games in 1969/70).
West Ham gained their first Premier League home win of the season, with it being their biggest margin of victory in the competition since last December (3-0 against Wolves).
Kudus scored his first league goal of the season with his 18th attempt, before today only Bruno Fernandes (17) had more shots without scoring in the Premier League in 2024/25 than the Ghanian (15).