West Ham United picked up an impressive Premier League win at the London Stadium.
The Hammers ended a run of four games without a win in dramatic fashion against the Clarets. Manuel Pellegrini’s men twice took the lead, with Marko Arnautovic and Felipe Anderson both getting on the scoresheet.
Anderson would score again with just over five minutes remaining after Chris Wood had scored the visitors’ second a few minutes earlier. Javier Hernandez would put the exclamation point on the win in stoppage-time for a West Ham side that now sit 13th in the table.
Diangana was, once again, excellent. He provided an assist on what was only his second start in the top flight. It is already easy to forget that he only made his first-team debut towards the end of September.
And Rice was also influential in the middle of the park, really stepping up as the Irons looked to cope without the suspended Mark Noble. And after the game, Merson lauded both youngsters.
“Both of them were outstanding,” he told Soccer Saturday. “Both of them. Rice sits there and he keeps it very simple and Diangana, he got people off their seats. Every time he got it, he always looked to try and beat someone, he played a great ball to Anderson for his goal.”
It certainly appears to be an exciting time to be a West Ham fan. The club went out and made a number of statements during the summer transfer window, and Pellegrini is now blending them with the cluster of seriously talented youngsters within the squad.
It has been a mixed start to the campaign. But it would be absolutely no surprise if many were tipping them to be within the top-half by the time the curtain comes down on the season.
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