West Ham United substitutes Tomas Soucek and Kyle Walker-Peters scored second-half goals as their side came from behind to beat Burnley 3-2 at home in a pulsating Premier League clash between the two struggling sides on Saturday.
The win sees West Ham move level with Burnley on 10 points after 11 games and they remain one place behind their visitors in 18th spot due to their inferior goal difference, despite notching their second league win in six days.
Burnley got off to a bright start and deservedly went ahead in the 35th minute through Zian Flemming as the West Ham defence was caught flat-footed, and the Dutch forward was able to send a powerful downward header into the net.
That goal spurred the home side into action and Callum Wilson managed to level before the break with a close-range header after a shot from Crysencio Summerville bounced up off Burnley defender Maxime Esteve and into his path.
Boosted by the goal, West Ham continued to attack in the second half, but all too often their shots were blocked on the edge of the area, and it took the introduction of Soucek and Walker-Peters to change their fortunes.
Soucek came on in the 62nd minute and 15 minutes later he gave his side the lead, remaining calm to chest the ball into the net at the far post. Walker-Peters needed even less time to have an impact, coming on in the 83rd minute and scoring West Ham’s third four minutes later.
Burnley showed little sign of mounting a comeback until Josh Cullen pulled a goal back in the seventh minute of stoppage time, but it proved too little, too late and the referee blew the whistle shortly after play restarted as West Ham held on to win.
“It was a big game, we knew the magnitude of it and going behind wasn’t ideal, but we’ve started sticking together as a group more, and being a team. We’ve done that last week and shown that again this week,” West Ham striker Wilson said.
Soucek said he was delighted that his run to the far post proved worthwhile as he tried to make an impact.
“You have to do this run 100 times, and if you do it once or twice, you have the opportunity to score,” he said.
“I am so happy we have won at home, we can go into the international break with a great feeling because we are building something.”
