West Ham's return to the Championship began with a helter-skelter 2-2 draw at Turf Moor that swung on a tactical change at the break and unravelled in the final ten minutes. Two goals up and cruising with 20 minutes left, Nuno Espírito Santo's side were pegged back by a Zian Flemming brace.
A penalty with eight minutes left, thanks to a bad tackle from Ollie Scarles in the box, gave Fleming a chance to bury one after a frustrating day to that point. Then in a scrappy stoppage-time leveller, to leave the opening weekend feeling more like a missed opportunity than a good start.
The story of the afternoon, tactically, was Nuno's decision at halftime to abandon the front two who started the game. West Ham had lined up in a 4-4-2 with Pablo Felipe partnering Taty Castellanos up top, but up 1-0 at halftime, Nuno turned to former Burnley loanee James Ward-Prowse at the break in place of Pablo. The manager shifted the shape to a 4-3-3 with Castellanos isolated as the central striker, Jarrod Bowen and Manor Solomon stretched the play from the flanks, and Ward-Prowse was inserted to add control and range of passing alongside Mohamadou Kanté and Lewis Orford in midfield. The move backfired.
After the restart, West Ham resisted a spell of heavy Burnley pressure and would eventually counter with a goal from Solomon in his debut. Kanté was allowed to drive unchallenged down the baseline before picking out the winger for a clinical finish.
Burnley started the brighter of the two sides, forcing an early save and going close through Aaron Ramsey, before West Ham took the lead against the run of play. Max Kilman would escape his marker to score his first-ever West Ham goal from a Bowen corner in the 10th minute. Burnley continued to create better chances for the remainder of the first half without finding a way past Mads Hermansen.
In the final 15 minutes Burnely continued with the pressure, breaking down West Ham’s possession-based formation and would eventually concede the penalty and subsequent Fleming goal in the 93rd minute off a corner.
Player Ratings
Mads Hermansen — 7: Untroubled for long spells but alert when called upon, including a smart recovery to deal with a dangerous long ball that nearly created a bizarre Burnley equaliser. Beaten by a well-struck penalty and had no chance with either Flemming goal.
Kyle Walker-Peters — 6: Solid without being tested excessively at right-back, offering width in the first half before the game opened up.
Max Kilman — 7: Got West Ham's opener with a well-timed header from a corner and defended his box reasonably well before being caught out, like the rest of the defence, in the closing stages.
Konstantinos Mavropanos — 6: A steady if unspectacular afternoon at the heart of the defence, part of a backline that ultimately couldn't hold out for the final ten minutes.
Ollie Scarles — 5: A mixed game. An excellent goal-line clearance to deny Flemming was undone by conceding the penalty that let Burnley back into the match. Substituted shortly after for Diouf.
Mohamadou Kanté — 7: One of West Ham's best performers, capping a bright display by driving to the byline unopposed to set up Solomon's goal. Full of energy throughout.
Lewis Orford — 5: A composed full debut in the middle of the park for the academy graduate, Did well in possession but provided little else for West Ham’s attack.
Jarrod Bowen — 6: Involved in West Ham's better moments, but more is needed from the captain, so make up for a team with little depth and few attacking options.
Manor Solomon — 7: Made an immediate impact in his debut. Scoring the goal that seemed to have sealed it. Solomon may have asked to come off in the final 10 minutes.
Pablo Felipe — 5: Struggled to make an impression as part of the front two and was sacrificed at the break for Nuno's formation switch. A substitution that, in isolation, worked exactly as intended.
Taty Castellanos — 6: Led the line manfully after the switch to a lone-striker role, holding the ball up well without adding directly to the scoreline himself.
James Ward-Prowse (sub) — 5: Brought some composure to the middle of the pitch, but disappeared at times in the second half. Struggled to deflect pressure from Burnley and was not involved in West Ham’s counterattack.
El Hadji Malick Diouf (sub) — 5: Not sure why Diouf didn’t start this match and seemed to not be engaged after coming in for Scarles in the in 87th minute. Diouf took a yellow card after a giveaway led to a desperate foul on a potential Burnley counterattack.
Jöel Veltman (sub) — N/A: Coming in at the 89th minute, Veltman had little chance to affect the match.
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