West Ham United 1 - West Bromwich Albion 3

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Ratings submitted so far: 8

Brendan Clegg:

A stunning performance from Jimmy Mozza’s brilliant Baggies - in terms of enjoyment and style it was up there with anything in the last decade.

The lineup was exciting in that it definitely had pace and legs - and when I saw it I thought it might be our strongest if would could get on the ball and get The Horn and Morgan into feet.

And we were just excellent pretty much from the off. We kept the ball so well at the back, had really good balance out wide, and the interchanging movement of forward players and midfielders was slick but, crucially, did not come at the cost of careless or sloppy play - our slow-slow-fast passes moved it around them, invited them into traps and then we either passed or carried it through the lines really well.

The signs were there early doors with Diakite striding through the middle and playing forward passes or winning fouls from desperate tackles.

Our goal was a beauty - slick passes to again draw West Ham out of position, Price drifting into the middle to receive a sharp straight pass before playing Morgan in. His run stretched West Ham and his touch to control and composure to square for The Horn to tap in were top class.

West Ham have got quality in wide areas and were a threat at times but their goal had a lot of fortune with Bowen’s driving run and cross/shot hitting Styles and going the only place O’Leary couldn’t cover.

But going in level was very harsh on us given our play and some nearly moments - Price not quite getting one out of his feet and scooping over, being our closest other.

I thought West Ham would improve and they did have a spell after the break where they were on top and we couldn’t get hold of it but there were no real chances and we took a hold back in it before another beautiful goal - Price’s left footed cross cushioned superbly by the Horn to Morgan who made a touch and finish look easy. It was far from that and his feet were so fast.

You always worried the Hammers carried a goal from nowhere type of quality but we continued to look a threat and O’Leary made routine saves when needed.

Our subs freshened us up and Styles thumped in a third from a cleared corner - sparking glorious scenes in the away end.

After that the result was never in doubt and over 90 minutes with the other situations and chances we created it could’ve been 4 or 5.

The style in which we did it was the best thing though. The running, the movement, the intensity, the tactical sharpness and shrewdness. We had so much control. This was the performance we were hoping for against Wolves and Blues. It is within the group to do it. I’d go with the same 11 on Tuesday.

There are a lot of youngsters still and we’ll have off days but something special is building here.

• O’Leary - 7 solid but not sternly tested.
• Pereira - 7 got done a few times but showed so much promise and so much room to develop. Pretty good.
• Mepham - 8 As good as he’s played for us. Was well up for it.
• Campbell - 8 was so brave on the ball. Terrified me but was great.
• Styles - 8 Our left side was phenomenal. Great goal and stuck at Bowen - probably the league’s best player.
• Rabby - 7 Still not disciplined enough but loads of legs.
• Molumby - 8 So controlled and reliable. Anchored it.
• Diakite - 8 Dominated it and was so good going forward. Monster.
• Price - 8 I don’t think he’s played better for us than that. Looked after the ball so well. Ran them to death.
• The Horn - 8 Finding his feet - great contributions
• Morgan - 8 Really showed up. Mature showing.

• Heggebø - 6 stomped about
• Tunde - 7 A noticeable step up in his level, let’s hope there is more to come
• Bany - 6 Ran about a lot!