5 October 2024
West Ham 4 Ipswich Town 1
West Ham welcomed Ipswich Town to the capital for a game the hosts needed to win. Pressure was already mounting on Julen Lopetegui as the demanding Hammers’ fans were not happy with the start they made. Winless in six games, the hosts needed a much-needed victory while the visitors were unbeaten in their last four games.
There must be something about the London Stadium that acts as kryptonite for Kalvin Phillips. In recent weeks he started to find the form that led to Man City paying out for him to leave Leeds Utd to join them. In the opening moments of this match his misplaced pass led to the first chance of the game for Lopetegui’s misfiring side.
With only one minute on the clock Bowen got away down the right wing and his pinpoint cross found Antonio in the box. His first time shot beat Muric to give the hosts an early lead. The stadium erupted as the ball hit the back of the net, it was the perfect start for The Hammers. Punishing the Tractor Boys for the slightest of mistakes.
McKenna seemed infuriated on the touchline to the start his side had made. His team ventured forward looking for a way back into the game. As West Ham failed to clear a long throw-in, Delap outmuscled Emerson for the ball. As the striker managed to create a yard of space, he fired a shot off to the near post that beat Areola to draw Ipswich level. The lead had lasted a mere five minutes.
Ipswich Town grew in confidence following the goal. Having won a free kick in the corner, the ball was swung in and Greaves rose for a free header. He glanced his effort wide of the post when he really should have been putting his side into the lead. It was a big let off for the hosts, something which they needed to make the visitors pay for.
Bowen has enough in his locker to cause any team problems. He continued to stretch the visitors but as his attempted cross was half-cleared, The Hammers recycled it well. As the ball was whipped into the box, Muric went walkabout and Kudus had an empty goal to aim for. Sadly for the hosts, his header clipped the side of the post and went wide.
McKenna’s side started living dangerous as they looked to play a goal kick short. The ball was gifted to The Hammers and Soucek looked to pass it into the bottom corner. O’Shea was covering the goal and managed to clear it off the line to deny West Ham a second goal. They were living dangerously at the back and needed to regroup.
Emerson then created some space down the left wing and put in a dangerous cross into the box. Antonio rose to head it, only to see his effort hit the underside of the bar and come back into play. Kudus reacted quickest to head the ball into the back of the net before anyone could complain about the original effort having crossed the line.
After the break things went from bad to worse for the visitors. A ball back to his keeper almost resulted in a comedic gift to West Ham but as the ball was hacked clear Bowen seized upon it. He cut in from the flank onto his favoured left foot before sweeping his shot into the far corner to double Lopetegui’s side lead in the capital.
It was a calamity of errors for Ipswich Town and one they duly paid for. Falling two goals behind, Ipswich needed to find a route back into the game. Some patient build-up play led to a cross from out wide which Delap did well to meet with a downward header. Areola got down well to make a crucial save to claw it out of the goal.
The Tractor Boys had no answer to Bowen all afternoon. As he ghosted past their defenders once again, he put a teasing low cross into the box. Antonio tried to meet it at the near post but missed it completely. The unintentional dummy was enough to take Muric out of the game and Paqueta was behind him to tap the ball into an empty net.
This had now gone from a game that Ipswich had a feint glimmer of hope of coming back in, to now being damage limitation. All of their troubles had been of their own doing and they had been punished for each single mistake. The London Stadium was rocking and they wanted to see more goals from Julen Lopetegui’s side. Everything was now going according to plan.
The bubble machines were going into overdrive around the pitch and the visitors seemed unable to burst them at all. It was the first time this season that McKenna’s side had capitulated like this but that will not put his mind at ease at all. West Ham took a deserved three points and put their poor run of form to an end in style.
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