West Ham bounced back from their disappointing Europa League semifinal defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt as they hammered Norwich City 4-0 at Carrow Road. Here are our talking points from the game against the Canaries.
EL qualification still possible
Manchester United’s 4-0 capitulation against Brighton means West Ham have Europa League qualification in their own hands again. Beat Man City (easier said than done of course!) and the Seagulls, and the Hammers will finish above the Red Devils. Ralf Rangnick’s side have an inferior goal difference (+1 to West Ham’s +11) and are facing Crystal Palace on the final day of the season.
6th in the league (getting EL for next season) and EL semifinalists is a pretty good return for this season, all things considered. Yes, it could’ve been even better if some reinforcements had been brought in January (primarily striker and CB)- hopefully the same mistakes are not made next season if EL qualification is secured.
Antonio breaks league goal drought
This ended a fourteen game league goal drought for Michail Antonio, and his goal here was aided by a bad mistake from Norwich keeper Tim Krul. Still, Antonio was in the right place to pounce after Krul’s error. Can he finish the league season with a double-figure goal tally? (he’s currently on nine)
West Ham boost goal difference
As mentioned above, West Ham’s goal difference is superior to Man United’s, which makes 6th place (and therefore a spot in the UEL instead of a Conference League one) a real possibility. United were trounced 4-0 by Brighton. West Ham had offered very little going forward against Chelsea, marginally more against Arsenal, but were clearly the better side here. Yes, Norwich’s defending was poor, but the Hammers took full advantage, and this game was done and dusted by half time. And thankfully, the tendency to under perform in a league game following an EL clash wasn’t there at Carrow Road!
Injuries hopefully not too serious
If there was one downside to the Norwich game, it was the injuries suffered to Antonio, Dawson and Benrahma, which saw all three substituted during the game. Antonio and Dawson in particular will be very important to West Ham’s chances of getting any result against City, and fans will be keeping their fingers crossed.
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