West Ham returned to winning ways with a 3-0 win over Hull on Sunday, with Stewart Downing proving a key figure. We look at the stats behind an important victory for the east London side...
After a run of six games in all competitions without a win in 90 minutes, West Ham boss Sam Allardyce demanded more creativity from his players ahead of the Super Sunday fixture with Hull at Upton Park.
“Chances created and converted recently could have been a lot better,” he told Sky Sports ahead of kick-off. It seems his players were listening.
As well as scoring three for the first time since Swansea came to town at the start of December, West Ham also created more chances from open play (10) than they’ve managed in their past five in the Premier League.
Second-half goals from Andy Carroll, Morgan Amalfitano and Stewart Downing secured West Ham’s first win in five in the top flight and it was the latter who was the driving force behind their more effective attacking play.
The 30-year-old is enjoying something of a renaissance in east London this season and has been involved in 12 West Ham goals this term – five goals and seven assists.
By way of comparison, that combined total is more than Downing managed in the previous three campaigns combined and is the same number Chelsea’s Eden Hazard has recorded this season.
He’s also created 60 chances this term - second only to Hazard’s team-mate Cesc Fabregas (67) - and chipped in with four key passes for his colleagues on Sunday - more than any other player on the pitch - as well as an ice-cool finish to round off the scoring.
“Everything he’s done has been classy,” said Sky Sports' Alan Smith, who awarded Downing the man of the match prize. “He’s shown his experience, played in a couple of different positions, got his goal and that sums up his season. It’s another good performance from him and he never looked like missing when he was released.”
Ahead of the game, Allardyce also expressed a desire to see better defending from his side, which had kept just one clean sheet in their last eight Premier League matches: “We’re looking to increase our goal ratio if we can, but the team needs to get more clean sheets if it wants to stay in and around the position in the Premier League it’s in now.”
Again, the West Ham players answered his call.
Of course, shutting out a Hull side who were missing their two top strikers through injury and had failed to score in six of their last eight on the road in the league is one thing; denying Liverpool, Manchester United, Southampton and Tottenham (four teams in the top seven of the Premier League scoring charts) in their next four league matches is another challenge altogether.
However, after ending a frustrating mid-season streak, which has seen West Ham slide away from the giddy heights of the top four to a still-impressive seventh, Allardyce can take heart from the fact his team have now racked up their highest Premier League points haul after 22 games and his players are meeting his demands at both ends of the field.