Sebastien Haller continued his goalscoring form as West Ham made it back-to-back Premier League wins with a 2-0 victory over Norwich at the London Stadium.
The French striker scored twice in the Hammers’ win at Watford last weekend and only had to wait until the 24th minute to strike again to put Manuel Pellegrini’s side ahead.
The hosts continued to dominate in the second half as Andriy Yarmolenko hit his first goal since September 2018, volleying past Tim Krul to give his side their first home win of the season.
Baller. It is what it is 🔥 pic.twitter.com/upvn7iFlJA — West Ham United (@WestHam) August 31, 2019
Norwich slumped to their third defeat of their first league four matches and failed to score a goal for the first time in the Premier League this season.
They head into the international break with four losses from five matches in all competitions.
West Ham started brightly and had a half-hearted penalty shout in the 12th minute when Yarmolenko went down in the box, but referee Paul Tierney waved play on without consulting VAR.
Yarmolenko then played the ball through to Felipe Anderson who drove down the right before trying to take on the shot himself, despite Haller waiting in the box, and his effort was saved at the near post by Krul.
Haller made the most of his side’s dominance though, slotting the ball past Krul after Arthur Masuaku squared the ball for the unmarked striker.
The Canaries’ ongoing injury problems worsened when captain Christoph Zimmermann was forced off in the 36th minute on his Premier League debut having just returned from a knee problem.
Norwich came close to equalising towards the end of the first half, as Max Aarons weaved his way into the box before sending a high cross towards Todd Cantwell, but the ball was just too high for the midfielder, who nodded over from close range.
With the visitors pushing for the leveller it was West Ham who doubled the lead. Yarmolenko hit the post moments before firing into the net on the rebound after an effort from captain Mark Noble.
His first goal after 10 months out! Couldn't be happier for this guy! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/T9ChPafThC — West Ham United (@WestHam) August 31, 2019
After the second goal Norwich lost their intensity going forward. Teemu Pukki, who scored five goals in his first three Premier League matches, had to wait until the hour mark to get his first shot of game.
The Finland striker’s effort lacked power and went straight at West Ham keeper Lukasz Fabiankski.
The Hammers continued to assert their dominance, coming close twice in two minutes with Krul putting a deflected Ryan Fredericks cross out for a corner and Emi Buendia nodding a goal-bound header from Issa Diop off the line.
With just over 10 minutes left of the game, Krul denied West Ham a third, tipping Manuel Lanzini’s header over the bar, before making a double save just a minute later from Anderson and Haller.
