West Ham United made it back-to-back Championship victories under Nuno Espírito Santo with a 3-0 win over Derby County at the London Stadium, although the final score flattered the hosts after a nervy second half.
Joel Piroe put West Ham ahead inside six minutes, but the Hammers were unable to reproduce the attacking fluency that had powered Tuesday’s 4-2 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers. Derby grew in confidence after the interval before late goals from Edvin Austbø and Mohamadou Kanté settled the contest.
The result gives West Ham two home wins in five days as they begin life in the second tier following last season’s relegation, with the club aiming to return to the Premier League at the first attempt.
West Ham’s opener came from a straightforward but effective move. Jarrod Bowen delivered a deep cross towards the far post, where Taty Castellanos headed the ball back across goal. Piroe then volleyed into the net to ensure there was no doubt over the finish.
Bowen remained the home side’s most dangerous outlet throughout the first half. The England international dragged one attempt wide and twice tested Derby goalkeeper Jacob Zetterström, who also produced an excellent reaction save to deny Konstantinos Mavropanos from a powerful header.
Derby’s task became more difficult when Rhian Brewster was forced off with an injury after 22 minutes, David Ozoh taking his place. The visitors offered little in attack before the break and were fortunate not to fall further behind when Castellanos shot narrowly wide after combining with Divine Mukasa.
Mukasa, who returned to West Ham on loan after leaving the club’s academy for Manchester City, continued to impress after the restart. The 19-year-old helped create another opening for Bowen, whose effort from the edge of the area was saved by Zetterström.
But West Ham’s pressing became less intense as the game wore on, allowing Derby to believe they could claim a point. Lars-Jørgen Salvesen came close with a free-kick in the 80th minute, sending the ball narrowly wide as unease began to spread around the London Stadium.
Those concerns disappeared seven minutes later. Bowen’s attempted finish from Arne Engels’ cross was mishit, but Austbø reacted quickly to turn the loose ball home for his first West Ham goal. The Norwegian joined from Viking for a reported £10 million on transfer deadline day.
Kanté then completed the scoring deep into stoppage time, the 20-year-old academy graduate firing a low shot from outside the area to secure West Ham’s second successive victory and leave Derby empty-handed.
