Early kick-offs on a Saturday can either make or break your weekend: three points and you can sit comfy for the rest of the day, maybe even treat yourself to a few pints. Come away with nothing and you'll be ‘effing and jeffing’ to yourself and those pints will taste much more bitter. Neither of those moods really apply to West Ham fans after that performance though. Yes, the three points are the main thing and a clean sheet is an added bonus, but that second half performance really was shocking and with Tottenham and Everton in the next week, that kind of form can’t be replicated. Sunderland fans will be feeling hard done by and rightly so, they were the better team in the second half and were unlucky to come away empty handed.
The only goal came courtesy of a piece of class from Michail Antonio in the 30th minute. Granted, he was helped by a defensive error from Patrick van Aanholt but he showed good pace to burst into the box and then finished it brilliantly on his weaker foot. That’s his 5th goal in 15 starts for his new side and if it wasn't for Dimitri Payet, he’d be my pick as West Ham’s signing of the season. Mark Noble also had a fantastic strike brilliantly tipped onto the crossbar in the opening half an hour by a diving Mannone after a great weaving run by Lanzini to set him up, something the Hammers have certainly missed in his absence.
Sunderland fought back strongly though and came out firing in the second half, with Jermaine Defoe snatching a half volley wide from just outside the box and having another chance called offside but which you would expect him to finish. Jack Rodwell also made a great impact off the bench, forcing a great save from Adrian from close range and having his follow up rightly disallowed for handball. The Hammers also had a couple of chances, with the best one being a close ranged Andy Carroll right-footed volley rocketing onto the crossbar before finding its way into a grateful Victor Mannone’s hands.
That win moves West Ham onto 43 points - their highest total after 27 Premier League games and a real testament to the work Slaven Bilic has done. A positive is that despite playing poorly, they've managed to come away with all three points and they're one step closer to achieving European qualification. Sunderland, on the other hand, played well and came away with nothing and that can be a real problem in a relegation dogfight. With Big Sam in charge, though, they should still be a Premier League team come the end of the season.