Norwich City were officially relegated as West Ham put four past them at Carrow Road earlier this afternoon. The 4-0 win for the Hammers, plus the 2-0 victory over the Canaries at the London Stadium earlier this season saw them complete a league double over Daniel Farke’s men- their first one over Norwich since 1973.
Manager David Moyes made only one change from the side that had lost 1-0 to Burnley, with skipper Mark Noble returning to take his spot in the starting lineup. Here are our talking points from the game.
Easiest league win of the season for West Ham: This was perhaps West Ham’s easiest league win of the 19/20 campaign so far. Norwich were abysmal- a side resigned to their fate, and much of the game, the second half in particular, resembled a training ground exercise for West Ham. Michail Antonio looked like prime Messi and scored four goals in the fixture- the only West Ham player to do so in the modern Premier League era. Antonio was also the first WHUFC player to score a hat trick since Andy Carroll four years ago.
First away league win for David Moyes & all five subs used: This was West Ham’s first win on the road under Moyes since he took over from Manuel Pellegrini. The Hammers have been terrible away from home this season and even Moyes would probably not have imagined this being as easy it eventually turned out to be. There were records galore, especially for Michail Antonio, and the margin of victory has significantly aided the club’s goal difference.
This was also the first time that Moyes made all five substitutes in a game since the option was made available to teams following the restart. The likes of Jack Wilshere, Arthur Masuaku and Fabian Balbuena all got game time from the bench.
Norwich officially relegated: They were always struggling to preserve their top flight status, but this defeat officially confirmed Norwich’s relegation to the Championship. The Canaries’ set piece defending was shocking, and once West Ham scored twice early in the second half, the fight seemed to have totally evaporated from them. There was a sequence midway through the second half when West Ham strung around 20-25 passes in the Norwich half and worked their way into a scoring position. Not one Norwich player put in a tackle or attempted to get the ball. It, as mentioned before, looked like a training ground exercise for David Moyes’ men. This Norwich side looked like a pale shadow of the team that had beaten defending champions Man City on this very ground back in September.
Norwich’s defending was shambolic- set pieces have always been a problem for them, and they conceded their first two to Antonio via a corner and a free kick respectively. It just got worse for Daniel Farke’s men as the game progressed.
A rare clean sheet for West Ham: This 4-0 win was the first clean sheet for the Hammers since New Year’s Day when somewhat interestingly, they also won by a 4-0 margin against Bournemouth.
A very comfortable afternoon under the sticks for the Hammers’ Polish goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski- he’ll be hoping for more of these!
Norwich 0-4 West Ham (Antonio*4)- xG score NCFC 0.61- West Ham 3.81
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