A Jarrod Bowen brace was the undoing for Norwich City, with the win sending West Ham United back into the top four momentarily.
West Ham United made the best of their opportunity against a struggling Norwich City side to collect three points at the London Stadium. Jarrod Bowen could have had a hat-trick on the evening had it not been for VAR’s intervention, meaning he had to be content with a brace.
West Ham United enjoyed a comfortable evening, dominating possession and being the more dangerous side on the pitch. With David Moyes able to field his strongest side, flush with all his main attacking talents, the Canaries stood no chance right from the opening whistle. After much probing in the final third, Bowen seemed to have found the opener, only for VAR to intervene and chalk it off for offside.
However, a few minutes later, the attacker made no mistake and gave the Hammers a deserved lead just before half-time. The second half began in the same way, with West Ham dominating possessional, although they did allow Norwich a few forays into their area. The Canaries created decent opportunities, which were all too easy for Lukasz Fabianski and the defence to deal with.
Jarrod Bowen has scored a brace in the Premier League for the first time since August 2020.
The attacker puts Norwich to the sword. ⚔ pic.twitter.com/q90Py3uy5e
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) January 12, 2022
Jarrod Bowen then doubled the lead, which was again adjudged offside. However, VAR’s intervention clarified an error from the linesman and awarded the goal to him. Michail Antonio had the chance to treble the lead, but he missed a glorious chance from six yards. In the end, West Ham won’t think too much about the miss as they ended the night in the top four. Here’s how the West Ham players fared in their comfortable win over relegation-threatened Norwich City.
Lukasz Fabianski: 6.5/10
Fabianski barely had anything to do all evening, barring a good save to deny Adam Idah in the second half. He kept his composure in the box and proved reliable whenever called upon.
Vladimir Coufal: 7/10
Coufal seems to be getting back to his best form as the right-back pulled the strings from his position. He was a threat with his runs from the right flank and put in a perfect cross for Bowen’s first-half header.
Issa Diop: 6.5/10
Moyes will be happy to scrape through another game with his centre-backs still fit. Diop enjoyed the most comfortable of nights, as he barely had anything to do.
Craig Dawson: 7/10
The leader of this backline, Dawson put in a dominant performance from the heart of the West Ham defence. Superb in the air and on the ground, the centre-back made one crucial tackle on Brandon Williams in an otherwise comfortable and quiet evening.
Aaron Cresswell: 7/10
A good game upon his return to the team after a long period out with injury. Cresswell looked decent with his deliveries and was barely troubled as Norwich were toothless in their attacking endeavours.
Declan Rice: 7.5/10
Rice went about his usual way of bossing the midfield and holding play together in the middle of the park. The West Ham skipper was the midfield general, spraying the ball across the pitch and exposing the opposition defence’s frailties time and again.
Manuel Lanzini: 7/10
Moyes deployed the Argentine in a deeper role for this one, which did not bother Lanzini. Given the quality of Norwich’s midfield, the playmaker had a comfortable evening even in an unfamiliar position, as he coasted through to pull the strings from deep.
Nikola Vlasic: 6/10
Vlasic was dangerous with his runs and took on the opposition defenders but did not provide any real threat for Norwich. Still, he should have won a couple of penalties, which would have put some value to his performance.
Pablo Fornals: 6.5/10
Initially, Fornals was supposed to play deeper but was often seen in an advanced position with Lanzini dropping behind. He created some good chances for Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio, which sums up his evening.
Jarrod Bowen: 9/10
Jarrod Bowen's game by numbers vs. Norwich:
51 touches
11 passes in the final third
6 touches in the opp. box (most)
5 shots (most)
5 duels won
3 shots on target (most)
3 final third entries
2 goals (most)Blew Norwich away. ? pic.twitter.com/0ELhz4XCuO
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) January 12, 2022
A determined, focused and committed performance from the wide attacker. Bowen scored both goals of this game to hand the Hammers all three points. He even had a first-half goal chalked off for offside by VAR. All in all, Bowen was tremendous in the West Ham frontline.
Michail Antonio: 7/10
A dominant performance that could have yielded a goal in the second half had he not missed a glorious opportunity from close range.
SUBSTITUTES
Arthur Masuaku: 7/10
Masuaku replaced Cresswell at left-back and made a solid impact the game, providing the assist for Bowen’s second goal.
Andriy Yarmolenko: N/A
Did not play enough to warrant a rating.
