West Ham end 2018 with a whimper 2-0 loss to Burnley

BURNLEY, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 30: Angelo Ogbonna of West Ham United battles for possession with Ashley Barnes of Burnley in the air during the Premier League match between Burnley FC and West Ham United at Turf Moor on December 29, 2018 in Burnley, United Kingdom. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
BURNLEY, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 30: Angelo Ogbonna of West Ham United battles for possession with Ashley Barnes of Burnley in the air during the Premier League match between Burnley FC and West Ham United at Turf Moor on December 29, 2018 in Burnley, United Kingdom. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images) /
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It wasn’t a pretty sight as a tired and depleted West Ham failed to show up for much of the match at Turf Moor. The Clarets of Burnley, a team massively underachieving by many’s standards, got their season on track with a dominant effort, keeping the Irons in check and sealing all three points.

The match started with some positive news, Marko Arnautovic was not only back but he was starting for the first team alongside Lucas Perez. While the ideal duo of Arnautovic and Chicharito was half missing, West Ham got a needed boost after a brief two days in between match days. The good news would end here as the match unfolded.

Just a few minutes into the game Burnley striker Ashley Barnes stroked a low cross wide, just missing out on the bottom corner. It wasn’t a great finish but the opposition was able to slice through Michail Antonio’s right-back area and put a dangerous ball in. A few moments later and Burnley would make West Ham play.

On a turn of play started by returning keeper Tom Heaton, Burnley dashed forward and executed extremely well by holding onto possession and creating space for a deep long ball over the top. Angelo Ogbonna, starting in the absence of Fabian Balbuena, had the run covered but dropped behind Barnes who was easily allowed to drop a header to Chris Wood who was in alone. Poor play from the Hammers defenders as Burnley were allowed to take the lead.

A few minutes later Burnley would again strike as Ogbonna fails to clear a ball past Ashley Westwood who sent another cross to the back post where Dwight McNeil would score his Premier League first. Sloppy defending from West Ham on this play, but some really solid pressure from Burnley who never panicked and coolly executed their game plan.

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It was a brutal team effort from West Ham who were beaten to about every ball on the pitch from a hungry and determined Burnley team. The Hammers two best attacks would come from headed chances, one early from Ogbonna which was covered by Heaton and the second later on in the match by sub Andy Carroll who managed to get onto an Aaron Cresswell cross and bullet it towards the top of the net before Heaton made his best save of the night.

The biggest issue for West Ham was their midfield presence. Mark Noble had a match to forget as he was just a half step behind the opposition. He looked to be chasing the ball all match long and when he had chances to gain possession and transition up the pitch, he would flub the ball away and turn it over. It will do Noble well to forget about this one and move on as it was a stinker however not a career-defining moment (as Twitter may have you believe).

There were a few (very few) positives in this match, however, so let’s end this review on those. Firstly, Declan Rice continued to play in the unbelievable manner in which we’ve become accustomed to.

Rice, who just received a 5-and-a-half-year contract extension with West Ham, brought his usual physicality in this match, monitoring the midfield and attacking everything in sight. His cover for the centre-backs who have been urged to get up in the play has been terrific and he looks to have continued his impressive run of form in this match.

Andy Carroll also had his best performance of the season, coming on at the half for misfiring and invisible Lucas Perez. Carroll was nearly immediately booked for winning a header(?), no I’m serious. It was an embarrassing decision by the referee as it restricted the physicality Carroll could play with for the rest of the match. It seems to come with his play style, but nonetheless, Carroll looked solid in the air and is rounding into game shape.

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Finally, it was the long-awaited Premier League debut for Xande Silva. The forward who has lit up the U23 team was on the bench for the Southampton win with Arnautovic out injured and Antonio at right-back. With Chicharito out and Antonio again out of position Silva made the bench and came on in the 73rd minute for Arnautovic. He didn’t make any game-changing impacts but did send a threatening shot just wide of Heaton’s goal from the top of the box. Hopefully, there is lots more to come from this youngster.