Burnley 1 West Ham 2: Hammers complete dramatic turnaround to continue Clarets’ losing run

TOMAS SOUCEK delivered a stunning, winning volley as West Ham came back from the dead in the Turf Moor house of horrors.

The Czech grabbed an injury-time winner at the end of four crazy minutes just when it had looked like a Jay Rodriguez penalty had ended the nightmare home run Burnley boss Vincent Kompany and his players are living through for real.

PA

Tomas Soucek netted a late winner for West Ham[/caption]

PA

Jay Rodriguez had put Burnley ahead from the spot[/caption]

Reuters

Divin Mubama thought he had scored the equaliser only for it to be ruled as an own-goal[/caption]

The Clarets have now become the first team since Newport County in 1974 to lose their first seven opening league games of a season.

Worse still, not in 128 years had they lost six successive top-flight games in succession.

Yet somehow, when it seemed they had a Hammers side on the ropes for so long, one that for most of the game was insipid and seemingly spiritless, they still lost this one.

The travelling West Ham fans behind James Trafford’s goal could hardly believe their luck. Their team as that bad.

But Mohammed Kudus finally woke his team up with some determined raids on the right flank.

He sent over an 87th-minute cross that was flicked past goalkeeper Trafford by Burnley defender Dara O’Shea for an own-goal.

Then barely sixty seconds into time added on Kudus fired another one in.

And it was met magnificently by Soucek thos just before the international break also came up with a late winner in the 3 – 2 smash-and-grab on Nottingham Forest.

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Yet how different so much of the rest was for both sides.

Nobody appeared to have mentioned the weight of history hanging on Clarets’ shoulders to Moyes’ players.

Then again the home side didn’t start out in the knowledge that they are already dead men walking

The most damning stat of the lot was that no top-flight team to have lost ten of their opening 12 games has lived to tell a tale of survival from such a low.

How the stats looked from the match

Now they are lower still have this unlucky 13th.

But there was, vibrancy, if not total cohesion about their attacks with wriggling Yankee raider Luca Koleosho fronting the offensive.

While the Hammers kept backing off against opponents who had only scored nine league goals since their 101-point surge from the Championship the 19-year-old kept darting into space.

Moyes wore an expression of pure puzzlement at how passive his men were.

Where West Ham’s players were on average

Koleosho tried to make hay and would have succeeded, too when he smashed in an angled strike off Zeki Amdouni’s fine lay–off.

But Alphonse Areola did get positive in the way he dived to beat away the strike.

Koleosho scared the Hammers’ defence again in the 39th minute as he once more found room.

Vladimir Coufal just got in his way, the winger flying to the deck amidst instant calls for a penalty.

Burnley’s average positions against West Ham

Referee Sam Barrott instead signalled for a goal kick while Coufal’s team-mate was booked, almost certainly claiming the youngster had dived.

Yet all the way through so much of this clash the body language of the West Ham players was dismal..

Timid, cautious, clearly missing injured attacking outlet Jarrod Bowen they would have been sitting ducks for any side that went into this clash with forward momentum.

But Burnley got their rightful reward for at continuing to show attacking intent thanks to another mazy run from – who else? – Koleosho.

His latest adventure into the box saw him clipped on the right ankle by Mohammed Kodus and the connection this time was again light but clearly evident.

VAR agreed with Barrott’s spot–kick call and Rodriguez slid home the 49th minute kick.

It was the veteran’s first Prem goal in 19 months amidst the dark days that followed Dyche’s sacking with relegation beckoning in April 2022.

Had Areola not then stopped a great near post attempt from Amdouni that Burnley’s home curse would have been history.

Instead an own-goal and Soucek only condemned them to more misery.

See how the match unfolded below…