A goal for Michail Antonio on his first start since his return from injury saw West Ham take all three points at home to Burnley.
The win was Hammers’ boss David Moyes’ first over Sean Dyche as a manager and lifts his side to within three points of third.
A battle of two solidly defensive sides took an early twist when a lovely piece of attacking play saw the ball played out to Pablo Fornals on the wide left, who then cut inside and delivered a pinpoint cross for Antonio to tap home.
The visitors’ first chance came midway through the first half after a reckless challenge from Aaron Cresswell resulted in a Burnley free-kick on the edge of the box. However, a golden opportunity to test West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianksi was wasted by Robbie Brady as he was unable to get a shot over the wall
Burnley did have the ball in the West Ham net just after the 30-minute mark though when Cresswell blundered in a Chris Wood cross – however, the flag went up for an offside earlier in the move.
Just minutes later West Ham had a chance to double their lead after a corner flicked on by captain Declan Rice was smashed against the post by a rising Angelo Ogbonna.
Early in the second half, Antonio had an opportunity to head home but an excellent goal-line clearance from Ben Mee prevented further misery for the away side.
Just after 70 minutes West Ham had a golden chance to make it 2-0. A raking 60-yard pass from Rice looped over the Burnley defence and was controlled excellently by Jarrod Bowen whose shot bounced off the side netting of Nick Pope’s goal.
A significant spell of second-half pressure from Burnley had the Hammers temporarily pegged back, but Dyche’s side lacked an end product as they failed to create any clear-cut chances.
Burnley did hit the crossbar moments later from a Dwight McNeil cross that looped over Fabianski, who was left scrambling back towards his goal line.
West Ham substitute Andriy Yarmolenko had a chance to put the game beyond all doubt after a swift counter-attack, but the Ukraine international failed to convert his chance which he could have squared to an open Antonio too.
The result capped off another positive display for Moyes’ side who picked up their third clean sheet on the bounce, as well as back-to-back Premier League wins.
For Burnley it’s a second consecutive 1-0 defeat with the Clarets remaining just four points above the drop zone and struggling to pick up points away from Turf Moor.
By Fraser Day
