Sixty per cent possession, 17 attempts and a wonder goal – the new look West Ham was at the most part a great watch on Monday night.
It was always looking like a match for the debutants and it was certainly that way for Hull City’s record-signing as Abel Hernandez beat Tomkins to an Elmohamady cross and the £10m man headed home excellently. Hernandez also smashed one long range effort onto the cross bar just minutes later.
That was it for the first half in a relatively close affair that Hull City deserved to edge. The Hammers started the second half strongly and it was another new signing who scored as Enner Valencia opened his West Ham account with one of the best goals in the history of the Premier League.
The Irons were in control up until Kouyate was caught out by ex-Hammer Mohamed Diame who of course scored against us (we all knew it was coming right?!) to make it 2-1.
West Ham managed to continue their second half dominance however and it was just 3 minute later that Downing expertly slipped in Diafra Sakho who’s shot deflected in off the boot of Curtis Davies.
The Hammers nearly won it with the last kick of the game as Valencia climbed to meet a Downing cross only for Michael Dawson to somehow divert the ball onto the crossbar and over.
A good overall performance by West Ham with a few individual errors ultimately costing us the three points.
Player Ratings
Adrian (6) – Quite theatrical in his saving style but a decent job done. Not his best day at the office.
Demel (6) – Showed real intent going forward and delivered a few handy crosses. Lacking a little defensively and always looking to do more on the ball than he perhaps should.
Tomkins (5) – Caught out of position a few times and also bullied by Jelavic. A poor showing from the academy graduate.
Reid (6) – Struggled to deal with Abel Hernandez but did enough throughout the 90 to warrant a mediocre rating.
Cresswell (6) – Not showing his full potential yet. Balanced attack/defence better than Demel but failed to stop delivery for opening Hull City goal.
Noble (7) – Controlled the game. Never dispossessed but a few wayward passes. Done enough in a physical midfield battle.
Kouyate (5) – A disappointing off day for the Senegalese international who lost his personal battle with Diame and was at major fault for the ex-Hammers’ goal. A rare off day.
Downing (9) – Excellent performance by Stewart playing out of his normal position but floating around and causing all sorts of problems. Created 7 chances including both goals and Valencia’s last minute goal-line clearance effort. MOTM.
Zarate (6) – Bright moments from Mauro but not at his best Caught in possession a lot and seemed isolated.
Valencia (8) – First Premier League start and after his goal he came alive. Could have scored the late winner and his goal was a pure delight.
Sakho (8) – Showed Carlton Cole how it’s done. Strong hold-up play, quick on and off the ball and more-or-less bagged a goal. Impressive again from Diafra.
Substitutes
Song (7) (on 62′ for Zarate) – On for a short period and his debut for the club. Composed and skilful on the ball, comfortably better than Kouyate on the night.
Jenkinson (6) (on 76′ for Demel) – Another debut for The Hammers and it was a short and quiet one for Carl who did nothing wrong in his 15 minutes.
Amalfitano (6) (on 87′ for Sakho) – Third debutant off the bench and just a couple of minutes given to Morgan who looked bright but not on for long enough to get off the base rating.
