Carroll scores first goals since March
Andy Carroll scored twice as West Ham moved up to third in the Premier League with victory against 10-man Swansea.
Wilfried Bony put the visitors ahead with a clinical finish but Carroll headed in the equaliser for his first goal since March.
Bony then hit the bar but Carroll netted again with a second header.
Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was sent off for a foul on Diafra Sakho, who then wrapped up victory with an emphatic strike late on.
The win, West Ham's third in succession, means they have 27 points and are six behind second-place Manchester City.
Under Sam Allardyce, the Hammers have undergone something of a reinvention this season, playing a more flowing, inventive passing style instead of the direct football they had become known for in recent years.
That was on display early on as Swansea, who had not won away from home in the league since beating Manchester United 2-1 in the first game of the season, toiled in the opening stages.
But with Bony, the Premier League's top scorer in 2014, Swansea would always be threatening with the few chances they created, and that proved the case midway through the first half as they snatched the lead.
Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jefferson Montero combined to open up the West Ham defence before Montero pulled the ball back for Bony to sidefoot home from the middle of the area.
The goal unsettled West Ham and ushered in a period of Swansea dominance as Sigurdsson and Bony both had shots flash wide of goal.
It prompted West Ham to go more direct, and it was a tactic that paid dividends just before the break as Carl Jenkinson clipped the ball into the box and Carroll rose highest to nod a trademark header into the far corner.
While a danger at set pieces, Carroll struggled to form an effective partnership with Enner Valencia, who was replaced at half-time by Sakho. His pace, coupled with Carroll's physical presence, posed a constant menace to the Swansea defence in the second half.
Bony launched an effort against the bar for Swansea, but it was a rare foray forward and instead West Ham took the lead, Carroll again climbing highest to direct a header from Stewart Downing's corner beyond Fabianski.
Minutes later, Swansea's and Fabianski's afternoon got worse as the Polish goalkeeper was shown a red card after he charged out of his area and clattered into Sakho.
That effectively ended the visitors' chances of getting back into the game and instead Sakho made the points safe as he burst through to fire in a third from Carroll's headed pass.
Swansea manager Garry Monk:
"We did not make enough correct decisions. The only time we did that we scored the goal.
"We didn't do that enough and really some of the defending, we gifted it to them on a plate to be honest. No complaints with the result, we didn't deserve anything from the game."
On Fabianski's sending off: "If you look at the build-up to it, he [Sakho] knocks the ball past the keeper with his hand. Realistically it should have been a free-kick to us, it wasn't a clear goalscoring opportunity either. Hopefully we will appeal it."
LINEUP, BOOKINGS (2) & SUBSTITUTIONS (6)
West Ham United
- 13 Adrián
- 18 Jenkinson (O'Brien - 79' )
- 05 Tomkins
- 02 Reid
- 03 Cresswell
- 30 Song
- 08 Kouyaté (Collins - 86' )
- 11 Downing
- 04 Nolan
- 09 Carroll
- 31 E Valencia (Sakho - 45' )
Substitutes
- 10 Zárate
- 15 Sakho
- 17 O'Brien
- 19 Collins
- 21 Amalfitano
- 22 Jääskeläinen
- 24 Cole
Swansea City
- 01 Fabianski Dismissed
- 22 Rangel (Dyer - 86' )
- 27 Bartley
- 06 Williams
- 29 Richards
- 07 Britton (Tremmel - 71' )
- 04 Ki Sung-yueng
- 15 Routledge Booked
- 23 Sigurdsson
- 20 Montero (Gomis - 75' )
- 10 Bony
Substitutes
- 02 Amat
- 08 Shelvey
- 12 Dyer
- 14 Carroll
- 18 Gomis
- 19 Tiendalli
- 25 Tremmel
Ref: Chris Foy
Att: 34,125
Live Text Commentary
Full time
Full TimeMatch ends, West Ham United 3, Swansea City 1.
90:00+5:06Full time
Full TimeSecond Half ends, West Ham United 3, Swansea City 1.
90:00+3:41
Offside, Swansea City. Ashley Richards tries a through ball, but Bafétimbi Gomis is caught offside.
90:00+2:41
Foul by Winston Reid (West Ham United).
90:00+2:41
Kyle Bartley (Swansea City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
90:00+1:42
Attempt saved. Diafra Sakho (West Ham United) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Stewart Downing with a through ball.
88:34
Attempt saved. Diafra Sakho (West Ham United) right footed shot from the left side of the six yard box is saved in the centre of the goal.
88:33
Attempt blocked. Andy Carroll (West Ham United) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Stewart Downing with a cross.
87:53
Corner, West Ham United. Conceded by Ashley Richards.
86:15Goal scored
Goal!Goal! West Ham United 3, Swansea City 1. Diafra Sakho (West Ham United) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the high centre of the goal. Assisted by Andy Carroll with a headed pass.
85:57Substitution
SubstitutionSubstitution, Swansea City. Nathan Dyer replaces Angel Rangel.
85:03Substitution
SubstitutionSubstitution, West Ham United. James Collins replaces Cheikhou Kouyaté.
84:22
Foul by Cheikhou Kouyaté (West Ham United).
84:22
Kyle Bartley (Swansea City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
83:25
Alexandre Song (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
83:25
Foul by Bafétimbi Gomis (Swansea City).
83:03
Foul by Diafra Sakho (West Ham United).
83:03
Bafétimbi Gomis (Swansea City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
82:22
Winston Reid (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
82:22
Foul by Wilfried Bony (Swansea City).
0 comments :
Post a Comment