Relief for Lopetegui as West Ham beat Ipswich
· CNA · JoinLONDON :West Ham United claimed their first home win in the Premier League under Julen Lopetegui as they beat promoted Ipswich Town 4-1 at the London Stadium on Saturday.
Michail Antonio swept the Hammers in front inside the opening minute, but their lead did not last long with Liam Delap firing Ipswich's equaliser after six minutes.
Ipswich looked capable of a first Premier League win until Mohammed Kudus put West Ham back in front just before halftime after Antonio's header bounced down off the crossbar.
Jarrod Bowen slotted West Ham's third in the 49th minute and the winger then set up Lucas Paqueta 20 minutes later to put the game out of Ipswich's reach.
West Ham, who ended a four-game winless streak in the Premier League, have eight points from seven games while Ipswich have four points and are just above the relegation zone.
Former Real Madrid coach Lopetegui has endured a disappointing start to his West Ham reign with the fans becoming restless after only one win from their opening six league games.
But after some early jitters West Ham ran out convincing winners in the autumnal sunshine in east London.
"We worked for this. We are happy for the fans that they deserve this, to see this team win one match at home," he said.
"It was a hard match, as all the matches in the Premier League are, but we did very well. We kept looking for goals and in the end we achieved a good victory."
West Ham got the perfect start as Bowen's low cross into the area was neatly dispatched by Antonio for his first goal of the campaign. Ipswich responded quickly, though, and Delap's shot on the turn seemed to surprise West Ham keeper Alphonse Areola who failed to keep the ball out of the net.
Ipswich looked confident throughout the first half but fell behind when Antonio's header bounced down off the woodwork and Kudus was on hand to nod in the rebound.
West Ham dominated after the break and the lively Bowen, left out of the England squad on Thursday, punished some woeful Ipswich defending with an angled shot through Arijanet Muric.
Bowen continued to cause problems for Ipswich and he waltzed through the visitors defence to tee up Paqueta for his first goal since the opening day of the season.
West Ham ended with 13 shots on target with the supporters finally going home with something to cheer.
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