An unchanged West Ham team welcomed a goal-scoring team in Norwich City to the London Stadium. Early possession by Norwich would prove unfruitful, as West Ham split the limping Canaries defense at will to take two goals and three points in an excitingly dominant match.
The first half was a bit of a tug-of-war between the two sides. West Ham were far-and-away the more dangerous team but possession stats show Norwich (53%) had more of the ball. Possession was largely kept in the Norwich half with the Hammers pressing high and also forcing their way into the oppositions half as quickly as possible.
The first goal was coming for quite some time as the Hammers began pressing up the middle with Haller and down the left wing with Anderson and Masuaku. It would be a smooth layoff from Anderson that would find a sprinting Masuaku who blew by his marker. The adventurous fullback beautifully slotted a booming low cross across the face of the goal which found a diving Haller for the opener.
It’s now three goals in his last two matches for Sebastien Haller, who is showing the Irons supporters exactly what they’ve been missing in a true center forward. The opening goal in this match would drain the energy from a benign Canaries attack and would take West Ham into the break with the lead.
The second half would see both teams unchanged and it would pay off for the Hammers as more sustained pressure would lead to a second goal. Just moments after banging a volley off the post, Andriy Yarmolenko would skin the Norwich defender twice, blowing his ankles and dropping him to the pitch. His cutback would eventually find it’s way back to the Ukranian who hammered it home into an open goal.
3️⃣ in 2️⃣ for Haller and a special moment for Yarmo 🙌
— West Ham United (@WestHam) August 31, 2019
It was just desserts for Yarmolenko who had two shouts for a penalty denied in the first half. He was also knocked about by the defenders for the entirety of his time on the pitch. His celebration was terrific too, running to the bench to celebrate with the physio team that helped him recover from his achilles tear last season.
The rest of the match was all West Ham. The Hammers ended up directing eight shots on target after having just one on net in the first half. The attack of Sebastien Haller, Manuel Lanzini, Felipe Anderson, and Arthur Masuaku really stole headlines as all players looked absolutely stunning on the pitch. The interplay between the entire team was really encouraging for West Ham and showed the team taking a step forward after their first win of the season last week.
Almost more important than the goals and offense was the clean sheet for Fabianski and the backline. There were chances at the end with Pukki And Drmic getting shots on goal and on the post respectively, but the match was well under control for the West Ham defense. There are a lot of questions regarding the defensive core, but this match should calm that discomfort.
In the end, a 2-0 scoreline flattered Norwich City. The Canaries looked like a Championship quality team battling a well-tenured Premier League squad. West Ham need to get better at finishing their chances and closing out the game, as multiple hugely threatening chances went wasted in the end. If that is the only complaint then things are probably going pretty well, as is the case in East London right now. What a match from the Hammers!