West Ham United 2-0 Sheffield United
Premier League, London Stadium, Saturday 30 September 2023, 3pm BST
West Ham United returned to winning ways in the Premier League with a 2-0 victory over bottom side Sheffield United at London Stadium on Saturday.
Jarrod Bowen and Tomáš Souček got the goals, with both of them coming in the first half, as the Hammers bounced back after consecutive top-flight defeats to score a fourth win in their opening seven matches and move onto 13 points.
Taking charge of his 900th league game, victory extended manager David Moyes’ perfect record against Sheffield United to eight wins out of eight, and marked West Ham’s tenth consecutive victory over opponents kicking-off against them bottom of the Premier League table.
Coming off an 8-0 defeat at home to Newcastle United in their previous fixture, Paul Heckingbottom’s Blades understandably appeared to lack confidence, and West Ham took advantage with a convincing display.
The first half yielded 12 goal attempts, seven of them on target, and two goals for the hosts, while Sheffield United’s clearest openings came to nothing.
Bowen and Souček had both already gone close before scoring, with the Czech shooting and heading off-target inside the opening eight minutes and Bowen seeing his own powerful header clawed away by Wes Foderingham.
In between, Cameron Archer and Vini Souza saw shots blocked by Nayef Aguerd and James Ward-Prowse, but the visitors were soon on the back foot.
Ward-Prowse’s free-kck was caught by Foderingham, but the former Rangers goalkeeper could do nothing to prevent Bowen’s beautifully crafted 24th-minute opener. A sequence of passing involving Aguerd, Kurt Zouma, Vladimír Coufal, Edson Álvarez, Bowen and Coufal again ended with the Czech crossing and the in-form England winger steering in his fifth Premier League goal of the season from 14 yards. It was Coufal’s third assist in consecutive top-flight matches.
Álvarez, Michail Antonio, and Souček had further half-chances before the latter made it 2-0 eight minutes before half-time. Emerson intercepted a clearance, Antonio collected, span and played in the No28 to slide past Foderingham with his left foot for his third goal of 2023/24.
If the first half was encouraging and, at times, exciting, the second passed largely without incident, at least after an initial Sheffield United rally that saw Coufal block Souza’s shot and Areola leap high to stop a close-range header from Anel Ahmedhodžić.
West Ham sat deep, happy to sit on their two-goal lead, and only threatened sporadically. When they did venture forward, Aguerd headed a Ward-Prowse cross wide.
Heckingbottom emptied his substitutes’ bench in a bid to get back into the game in the final 20 minutes and, to be fair to the Yorkshiremen, they did go close, Oli McBurnie nodding a yard wide before replacement Anis Ben Slimane curled past the far upright and saw a late shot held by Areola.
The Blades could not find a cutting edge, though, and West Ham could celebrate a first clean sheet of the Premier League season and a return to winning ways.
West Ham United: Areola, Coufal, Zouma ©, Aguerd, Emerson, Álvarez (Benrahma 72), Souček, Ward-Prowse, Paquetá (Mavropanos 90+3), Bowen (Fornals 90+2), Antonio (Kudus 72)
Subs not used: Fabiański (GK), Kehrer, Ogbonna, Cornet, Ings
Goals: Bowen 24, Souček 37
Booked: Álvarez
Sheffield United: Foderingham, Bogle (Trusty 79), Egan © (Basham 56), Ahmedhodžić, Robinson, Thomas, Souza, McAtee (T.Davies 70), Hamer (Ben Slimane 79), Archer (Brewster 79), McBurnie
Subs not used: A.Davies (GK), Larouci, Norwood, Traoré
Booked: McAtee
Referee: Graham Scott
Attendance: 62,459
