West Ham United gave their relegation fight a major shot in the arm today with a 3–1 win over Sunderland at the London Stadium, delivering a ruthless first-half display that effectively decided the contest before the interval. The Hammers were sharp, direct and far more aggressive in key areas, racing into a three-goal lead through Crysencio Summerville, Jarrod Bowen and Mateus Fernandes, before Brian Brobbey’s second-half header offered Sunderland brief hope that never truly caught fire.
The tone was set early by West Ham’s intensity without the ball. They pressed Sunderland’s build-up, forced hurried clearances and targeted the wide areas, where Bowen and Summerville consistently found space to deliver. The opener arrived on 14 minutes and came from a familiar West Ham pattern: Bowen shaped a lofted cross into the penalty area and Summerville attacked it with conviction, guiding a header past the goalkeeper to put the hosts ahead. It was the sort of goal that lifted the whole stadium—simple, decisive and driven by better movement than Sunderland could track.
Sunderland looked a step slow in midfield, and they also felt the absence of captain Granit Xhaka, who missed out through injury. West Ham repeatedly found pockets between the lines and, when they broke forward, they did it with purpose. The second goal came when Ollie Scarles was brought down in the box by Trai Hume, giving West Ham a penalty. Bowen—already central to everything good West Ham were doing—stepped up and converted calmly to make it 2–0 inside the half-hour.
With Sunderland still wobbling, West Ham landed a third just before half-time, and it was the standout moment of the match. Fernandes picked the ball up outside the area and unleashed a magnificent long-range strike that flew beyond the goalkeeper and into the corner, a goal that felt like a release of pent-up frustration for a team that has too often struggled to turn promising play into a cushion on the scoreboard. By the break, West Ham were in complete control, and the crowd—so restless in recent weeks—finally had something to enjoy.
Sunderland tried to change the flow after half-time with a triple substitution and a more proactive approach, and they did find a route back into the game on 66 minutes. A first-time cross from Nordi Mukiele caught West Ham’s defence flat-footed and Brobbey rose to head in at close range, making it 3–1 and giving the away end a spark of belief. For a brief spell Sunderland pushed higher and asked a few questions, but West Ham managed the game sensibly, slowed it down when needed and protected their box far better than in some of their recent setbacks. They also carried enough threat on the counter to keep Sunderland cautious, even if the match never truly returned to the frantic level it might have reached had a second Sunderland goal arrived.
There was a late flashpoint off the pitch when play was briefly paused following an incident involving injured Sunderland captain Xhaka in the technical area, but it did little to change the outcome. West Ham’s early work had already done the damage.
After the match, West Ham boss Nuno Espírito Santo focused on momentum and connection, saying the priority was to keep building and that the team are starting to “click” more in their combinations and timing, especially with more bodies arriving in the box. He also praised the supporters for lifting the players, stressing that the relationship between the crowd and the team can be a real weapon in a relegation battle if they keep feeding off each other.
Sunderland head coach Régis Le Bris was blunt in his assessment, admitting his side were not at the level required and that West Ham were better—more aggressive, more composed, and sharper in the decisive moments. He pointed to the first half in particular as the difference, with Sunderland chasing the game too early and never truly recovering the control they needed.
For West Ham, the win is another sign of life and belief at a crucial point in the season, with Bowen’s influence again central—he not only scored and assisted, but also moved into the club’s record books for Premier League goal involvements. For Sunderland, it was a sobering afternoon: a reminder that when you start slowly at this level, the punishment is swift, and even a spirited second-half effort may not be enough to undo the damage.
