West Ham thrash Bournemouth 4-0 to ease relegation worries

Updated: Oct 12, 2023, 03:19 pm
Declan Rice celebrates with West Ham teammates during the Premier League win over Bournemouth.
Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images

A pair of quick-fire goals by Michail Antonio and Lucas Paqueta and an acrobatic scorpion strike from Pablo Fornals helped West Ham United to a 4-0 away win over AFC Bournemouth on Sunday that moves them further away from the Premier League relegation zone.

West Ham are in 13th spot on 34 points, six ahead of 18th-placed Everton and 10 clear of bottom side Southampton, while Bournemouth's shambolic defensive performance sees them slip one place to 15th on 33 points.

- Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

Antonio opened the scoring for the visitors in the fifth minute after being left completely unmarked at a corner, and he was left with the simple task of heading Aaron Cresswell's corner into the net.

Bournemouth's defensive frailties were exposed again seven minutes later as West Ham won the ball and broke forward, with Vladimir Coufal crossing for Paqueta to score another header, this time at the far post.

Despite dominating possession, the home side were 3-0 down by the break as West Ham captain Declan Rice charged in to meet a clearance from another corner with a thunderous first-time shot that flew into the net.

Bournemouth dominated possession but struggled to create and substitute Fornals completed the rout in the 72nd minute, diving and steering home a Jarrod Bowen cross that went behind him with the outside of his right boot.