West Brom 0 West Ham 3 - Report and pictures
West Brom were blown away by two-goal Mark Noble and his clinical West Ham side as they lost their third home match in a row, reports Matt Wilson at the Hawthorns.
[gallery]
It came despite an excitingly promising full debut from teenager Jonathan Leko, Albion's spritely 17-year-old who dominated the opening half-hour.
But Cheikhou Kouyate headed the Hammers into the lead in the 34th minute before Noble stabbed home a second in first-half injury time.
Although both goals had elements of luck in the build-up, they were clinically-taken, emphasising the Baggies' own misfortunes in front of goal.
Michail Antonio cleared two Craig Gardner shots off the line when it was goalless, but Tony Pulis' side were once again too wasteful in the final third and the Hammers managed to easily control the second-half.
Noble made sure of all three points 10 minutes from time, with a superb volley into the roof of the net that capped off a fine move involving Dimitri Payet and Andy Carroll.
Pulis came through on his promise to blood the youngsters in the remaining three games of the season, handing Leko is first start for the club less than a week after his 17th birthday.
Stephane Sessegnon made way for the teenager on the right wing, while Ben Foster was passed fit enough to replace Boaz Myhill in goal.
Saido Berahino, who missed Monday's draw at Tottenham with an ankle injury, only made the bench while West Ham were unchanged from their 3-1 win over Watford.
West Bromwich Albion (4-5-1): Foster, Dawson, Olsson, McAuley, Evans, Leko, Gardner (Sessegnon 77), Yacob (Sandro 60), Fletcher (c), McClean (Berahino 60), Rondon.
Unused subs: Myhill (gk), Chester, Lambert, Roberts.
West Ham (4-3-3): Adrian, Antonio, Reid, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Kouyate, Noble (c), Sakho (Emenike 66), Lanzini (Oxford 87), Payet (Moses 81), Carroll.
Unused subs: Randolph (gk), Tomkins, Collins, Byram.[/breakout]
If Leko was nervous, he didn't show it, and it was the youngster who created the first opening of the match in the eighth minute with a piece of classic pacy wing play.
Aaron Cresswell has been one of the league's best left-backs this season but Leko turned him inside out.
He then pulled the ball back to Craig Gardner, whose shot was cleared off the line by Michail Antonio before Adrian saved the rebound.
Gardner had another chance four minutes later after Salomon Rondon - who was making a nuisance of himself - held off three West Ham defenders.
The midfielder set himself before curling his left-footed effort towards the back post and it beat Adrian, but the back-tracking Antonio got a tiny toe on the shot to somehow turn it behind.
The Baggies started on the front foot, with Gardner pulling the team further up the pitch as they harried Noble and Kouyate.
Andy Carroll put a header over the bar soon after but Leko was the story of the first half hour.
Cresswell simply couldn't deal with the teenager's pace and, after a couple of step overs, Leko jinked round him again before firing across goal.
Adrian pushed the cross high into the air but Gardner, who had all the early chances, put his header wide from eight yards out when he should have done better.
The Hammers were slowly working their way into the game after Albion's opening salvo, but the Cresswell-Leko battle continued to play a part.
This time it was the visiting full-back's turn to catch the teenager on his heels, as the youngster's naivety betrayed him when he failed to follow his man's bursting run to the byline.
Cresswell fired a dangerous ball across the six yard box and Diafra Sakho was inches away from giving Bilic's men an unlikely lead.
The visitors were starting to get their creators Manuel Lanzini and Payet on the ball and took the lead through slightly fortuitous circumstances 10 minutes before half-time.
[related_posts title="More on West Brom"]
Darren Fletcher was tackled in the middle of the park by Winston Reid and the ball ricocheted kindly to Payet in acres of space on the right wing, where the Frenchman was just about onside.
He drove into the box before lifting a cross to the back post where the lanky Kouyate was on hand to head the ball back across Foster and in.
The Baggies could have felt aggrieved to be behind but the Hammers then dealt them a sucker punch in first-half injury time.
There was slice of luck about West Ham's second goal too, as Sakho's pass down the line deflected off Dawson into the path of Kouyate.
The Senegalese midfielder stretched his long legs down the wing before pulling the back to Mark Noble.
Even though his first touch was heavy, the Hammers captain still managed to stab the ball under Jonny Evans an into the corner to give the visitors a 2-0 half-time lead.
Bilic's team started the second-half much better than the first.
The Baggies were lucky nobody in claret and blue gambled on Carroll's header back across goal from Cresswell's deep cross as the ball bounced tamely along the six yard box.
Leko continued to be Albion's most dangerous player, twisting away from West Ham players with ease and looking confident enough to come inside and get the ball.
[comments_cta header="What do you think?" text="What effect does this result have on West Brom?" button="Log in and start commenting"]
Pulis made a double substitution on the hour mark, bringing Saido Berahino and Sandro on for Claudio Yacob and the disappointing James McClean.
Berahino had a chance to score straight away when Rondon laid Gardner's pass off into his path, but last season's top scorer snatched at his shot and it bobbled a foot wide.
Albion's other substitute had a dangerous long-range effort soon after which flew just a foot wide of Adrian's post, but by this stage the Hammers were well in control of the game.
Their third goal ten minutes from time put the final nail in the coffin and it was one of supreme quality.
Payet picked up the ball in the middle of the pitch before effortlessly skipping past Fletcher and holding off Sandro.
He fed Carroll on the left wing who stood the ball up to the back post where Noble plucked it out of the sky with an unstoppable volley into the roof of Foster's net.
It signalled a mass exit from the home fans, many of whom won't have seen Berahino's dreadful miss with the last kick of the game which summed up the afternoon.
