Five Things We Learned: Burnley 1-1 West Ham United

In a game where West Ham United had to win it, we were held to a draw as Burnley clawed back a goal through Kiwi Chris Wood on 85 minutes. This was well after Michail Antonio’s opener after the 19th minute. This is another Five Things We Learned article.

5) Burnley will ALWAYS punish your mistakes.

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So, the Battle of the Kiwi’s ended in a 1-1 draw. Burnley’s goal was just brilliant. Build-up, the strike by Wood, just all-round brilliance from the Kiwi striker. However, Burnley did make sure to punish any and all mistakes we made throughout that game.

From lazy passes between West Ham players, to ill-timed tackles, Burnley were always there to correct and punish our boys on the pitch. It made for infuriating watching, but at the same time, we did deserve it.

Credit to Sean Dyche, his Burnley squad has improved since the 2-1 West Ham win on the final day of the 2016/17 Premier League season, and it showed on the pitch that there is a new fire at Turf Moor and it’s both annoying and spell-binding to watch.

4: Chicharito still unable to get the service.

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Hernandez had another difficult game this week, coming off for Diafra Sakho once again. He wasn’t able to receive the service needed to score a couple of goals. The midfield four of Michail Antonio, Cheikhou Kouyate, Manuel Lanzini and Marko Arnautovic was kept somewhat busy with the onrush of Burnley players, however the match was an uphill battle once Andy Carroll was sent for an early bath.

Despite the goal coming from Antonio, it showed how busy Carroll and Hernandez were during the first 19 minutes of the game.

3: Pablo Zabaleta silently pulling the strings

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He’s been absolutely brilliant for West Ham since joining from Manchester City and it’s clear to see how much passion he has for the club too. Silently pulling the strings from the back, he once again showed exactly how brilliant he can be.

From passing up to Antonio in the midfield to making the runs himself, Zabaleta has brilliantly shown how versatile he is. His presence throughout this game was clearly felt and had a significant impact on the pitch.

2: Andy Carroll proving to be reckless.

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Andy Carroll once again showed his rough side as he made two bookable fouls inside of two minutes, thus earning him a red car and an early bath. After making a foul on 25 minutes, he was shown a yellow after it was deemed to be a dangerous move. Then, just two minutes later, he was shown a red after making an almost exact same foul.

With this in mind, Carroll has earned himself a suspension from the next game (at least) but it also means we’ll be seeing Diafra Sakho starting alongside Hernandez up front.

1: Michail Antonio bring home his first for the season

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Michail Antonio bagged his first goal for the season this weekend and it was an absolutely brilliant one. After receiving the long-ball up from Joe Hart, Antonio latched on the end and slipped it past Burnley’s goalkeeper Nick Pope after 19 minutes of the game.

This was an absolute brilliant goal and allowed for West Ham to keep the advantage for the majority of the game. The set-up from Joe Hart and Antonio’s sprint towards goal was absolutely magic and showed how well the play was between these two players.

Whether you believe this was a good game, or not, one thing is certain... Michail Antonio is back and will continue to score those goals!!