West Ham returned to winning ways on Wednesday night, beating Lincoln City 6-0 at Sincil Bank, but the scoreline flatters a first half that was far from convincing. Lincoln had two players sent off before the 25th minute, and West Ham still needed until the stroke of half-time to break through.
Lincoln were down to ten after three minutes, when Tom Hamer lunged recklessly at Joël Veltman and was shown a straight red. Twenty minutes later, Conor McGrandles misplayed a pass back to his keeper, and when Jarrod Bowen ran onto it, McGrandles hauled him down as the last man. Two sendings-off, 23 minutes played.
Even so, West Ham couldn’t find a way through. Nuno Espírito Santo’s side rushed their play, tried too many shots from distance, and went in at the break with only a late goal to show for it. That came from a Bowen corner, headed home by Konstantinos Mavropanos.
The second half was a different story. Edvin Austbø, on at half-time for Morato, curled a shot into the top corner three minutes after the restart, and Bowen added a third a couple of minutes later. Pablo made it 4-0 after Austbø’s pass, and Tomáš Souček came off the bench to add two more, the first from Bowen’s pass on 79 minutes and the second a minute from time.
The numbers show how one-sided it was. West Ham had 82.8% possession and 32 shots, 12 of them on target, with an xG of 3.2. It’s their second 6-0 win in the league this season, after Wrexham, and it equals the club’s record away win, the 6-0 at Leicester City in 1923. They now have 29 goals, the most in the top four divisions, and they move up to third.
Reports differed on why Nuno kept his players on the pitch at half-time rather than taking them down the tunnel. Some fans saw it as a public dressing-down, while Sky Sports reports it was to let Lincoln’s players and staff clear the tight tunnel first. Nuno praised Lincoln, saying that even with one man down they were still in the game and created problems, and that it was hard to find gaps. He admitted West Ham made mistakes, rushing things and shooting from long range because they wanted to score so badly.
The turning point, he said, was the second goal. “It changed after the second goal, and we played much better,” he told Sky Sports, saying his side had been more patient, recycled the ball better and been clinical. He praised Austbø’s impact off the bench too, and with Swansea City, the league leaders, up next on Saturday, he acknowledged the size of the test.
Six goals and a clean sheet won’t tell the whole story. Against a full-strength side, that first half would have been a real problem, and West Ham have had a habit of starting slowly so far this season. But the second half showed what this team can do when it settles, and Austbø’s introduction will give Nuno a real selection question at left-back ahead of Swansea.
| Player | Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mads Hermansen | 6 | Barely tested, comfortable clean sheet |
| Joël Veltman | 6 | Solid, and fouled for Hamer’s red card |
| Konstantinos Mavropanos | 7.5 | Headed the opener on the stroke of half-time, booked |
| Max Kilman | 7 | Assured at the back, volley just wide |
| Morato | 4.5 | Struggled in the first half and was replaced at the break |
| Jarrod Bowen (c) | 9 | Goal, two assists and won the second red card. Was one of few bright spots in first half |
| Arne Engels | 5 | Set up Bowen’s goal and but kept turning over possession. His set play and corners were underwhelming. |
| Mohamadou Kanté | 6.5 | Powerful presence, headed wide from a corner, but his chemistry and work rate with Engels suffered. |
| Manor Solomon | 5 | Clearly showing exhaustion from international play. Nuno needs to rest him. |
| Pablo | 7 | Hard-working as usual, scored the fourth, gave Bowen the room he needed to work. |
| Joël Piroe | 5 | Assisted Austbø, but a quiet night otherwise. Never seemed in the right position all night. |
| Substitutes | ||
| Edvin Austbø | 8 | Changed the game at half-time, scored, assisted and hit the crossbar |
| Tomáš Souček | 8 | A brace off the bench |
| Airidas Golambeckis | 6 | Solid. Not much to do defensively. |
| Kyle Walker Peters | 6 | Adding good pace in the 2nd half. Much better performance than last 2 matches. |
| Taty Castellanos | 5.5 | Had a couple of opportunities in the box but couldn’t finish. |
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