Bournemouth 0 – 4 West Ham United. West Ham took a big step towards Premier League safety by thrashing fellow strugglers Bournemouth.
An unmarked Michael Antonio rose highest and headed home from Aaron Cresswell’s corner for the opener at Vitality Stadium.
Lucas Paqueta scored another header, getting on the end of a deep cross from Vladimir Coufal, as West Ham scored twice in the opening 12 minutes.
Hammers captain Declan Rice smashed past Bournemouth goalkeeper Neto for number three just before half-time, with the home side failing to clear the ball from Cresswell’s corner once more.
Substitute Pablo Fornals completed the rout with a flicked, acrobatic effort following Jarrod Bowen’s cross.
The win lifts West Ham up to 13th in the table and six points clear of the relegation zone. Bournemouth are one point and two places behind in 15th.
The Cherries were well below par given their recent good run of form as West Ham stopped them getting into the game.
Jefferson Lerma had a effort from 25 yards which swerved in the air but Lukasz Fabianski watched it well, diving to his left to push it away from goal.
West Ham won their third Premier League away game of the season in style, with four different players on the scoresheet.
Just three days after beating Gent to reach the Europa Conference League semi-finals, they showed no signs of tiredness.
Before Sunday, West Ham were the only team not to have scored in the opening 15 minutes of a Premier League match this season. They put that right when Michail Antonio netted after just four minutes and 11 seconds, swiftly followed by Paqueta’s second.
Cresswell, one of two changes for the Hammers, produced two excellent deliveries for those two goals.
Rice’s third league goal of the season made it his most in a single season to date as the Hammers all but sealed the win in the opening 45 minutes.
David Moyes’ side have some tough fixtures to come, including Liverpool at home on Wednesday and Manchester City away on 3 May, but such a dominant win has significantly eased their relegation worries.
Despite recent good performances, Bournemouth could not recover from being 2-0 down so early in the contest.
The Cherries have conceded 13 goals in the first 15 minutes of the first half this season, more than any other team in the Premier League, regularly leaving themselves with a mountain to climb.
Following on from their dramatic 3-2 win at Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, they were unable to show the same spirit at home.
Solanke saw an acrobatic bicycle kick bounce off the foot of the right post following Jaidon Anthony’s cross and was also denied by the foot of Fabianski after he had raced past Nayef Aguerd.
While Bournemouth are five points clear of the relegation zone, they have big games at Southampton on Thursday and Leeds at home on 30 April coming next.
source – BBC