A start that not many expected but what has gone wrong for West Ham? The season in pictures so far.
West Ham were the opponents for Antonio Conte’s first game as Chelsea manager.
Manager Slaven Bilic opted to start Michail Antonio at right-back as well as starting new summer signing Andre Ayew. However the latter saw his debut cut short after he suffered a thigh injury while Antonio was run ragged all evening by Eden Hazard.
Chelsea took lead through Hazard with a penalty, but with under 15 minutes to go James Collins seemed to snatch a point to take back to East London. However Diego Costa’s last-gasp strike in the 89th minute denied West Ham.
West Ham register first league win at new home
Their first league game at their new home saw West Ham take all three points with Antonio scoring a late winner to see off AFC Bournemouth in a very scrappy game.
Eddie Howe’s side were more than worth the point although Antonio, who was reinstated in his more favourable right midfield role, saw him make amends for his performance at Stamford Bridge.
Hammers crash out of Europe
A huge shock at the London Stadium saw the Hammers knocked out of the Europa League by Astra Giurgiu for the second successive season after losing 1-0.
West Ham came into the second leg in the ascendancy as they came away from Romania with a 1-1 draw, although the away side caused a shock and put in a solid performance for the majority of the game.
The Hammers failed to play at a high tempo for the duration of the game and only started to get out of first gear once Astra scored. One of the main reasons for moving to the London Stadium was to bring regular European football but this was a huge dent.
Pep’s City a class above Bilic’s men
Most sides coming to the Etihad Stadium this season will know first hand just how good Pep Guardiola’s side are. A sharp 20 minutes from Manchester City more or less put the game out of sight for West Ham after Raheem Sterling and Fernandinho put the hosts 2-0 up.
Despite Antonio pulling one back with an hour to go, City seemed in control and Bilic’s side failed to build on the strike.
West Ham stunned with Watford comeback
For 40 minutes West Ham were imperious and a class above Watford. However five minutes of madness at the end of the first half changed the complexion of the game.
It was that man again Antonio who put the Hammers 2-0 up with Dimitri Payet assisting the winger with a ‘rabona’. However an Odion Ighalo strike pulled one back before captain Troy Deeney capitalised on a defensive mix up and chipped Adrian.
From that moment on it was a downward spiral for the East London club with Watford doing what West Ham did to them by embarrassing the hosts in the second half, with Etienne Capoue and Jose Holebas strikes inflicting another defeat for Bilic.
Slow start leaves Hammers pondering
If you were a West Ham supporter going to the Hawthorns on Saturday you would have hoped this would be the game that could be the turning point. West Bromwich Albion came into the game in poor form without a win since the opening day as well as speculation over manager Tony Pulis’s future.
However it was the Baggies who put more misery on the Irons once again with Pulis’s side going 4-0 up before a late surge from the West Ham with goals from Antonio and penalty from Manuel Lanzini, although it was not enough to prevent another 4-2 defeat.
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