Bowen hits bullseye as Moyes goes fourth
West Ham too strong for Smith’s strugglers
Up to fourth go West Ham, with Jarrod Bowen looking like a player who can do no wrong. Bottom of the premier League remain Norwich, who cannot do anything right.
You know you are in trouble when your 6ft 1in centre back is being beaten in the air by a 5ft 9in forward, but we must credit Bowen for his movement. He nipped in front of Ben Gibson, who stood and watched as Vladimir Coufal’s cross was headed home.
Bowen later tapped in for 2-0, taking him to 16 goal involvements so far this season — eight scored and eight assisted. It is the most of any English player in the premier League, and he might have had more, too, had VAR not disallowed another and the woodwork denied him twice.
Still, 16 is more than Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish put together.
His manager, David Moyes, thinks he is England material. Are you watching, Gareth Southgate?
‘It would have been nice to get a hat-trick,’ said Bowen. ‘But to get two goals, three points and a clean sheet is good enough.’
On moving into the top four, Moyes added: ‘If we can hang on the coat-tails of the teams above, that is what we will try and do.’
For Norwich, this was a sixth straight defeat without scoring.
‘We get battered from pillar to post from people outside (saying) that we’re not fit to grace the premier League, but we’re still only three points from safety,’ said boss Dean Smith. ‘I have a committed and honest bunch of players.’
Less than two minutes in, Tim Krul had to stop Bowen from handing West Ham an early lead. Nikola Vlasic’s pass inside was hit with pace but a fabulous first touch from the England hopeful saw him strike a shot with his favoured left foot, which Krul did well to deny.
West Ham might have had a penalty in the 25th minute when Krul fell backwards into his goal. The goalkeeper was up on his feet in a flash, barking at referee Simon Hooper and claiming Vlasic backed into him illegally from a corner.
If anything, Krul was the aggressor and fortunate that VAR John Brooks didn’t advise Hooper to check his pitchside monitor.
The Hammers had the ball in the net before half-time when Bowen’s cross flew into Krul’s goal. There was no offside signal, so the players celebrated with the supporters. Then, after a bizarre delay, the assistant’s flag was in the air.
VAR checked and replays showed Vlasic, and possibly Issa Diop, were behind the Norwich back line. It didn’t look as if they got a touch, but it was decided they had interfered.
Though disallowed, the London Stadium atmosphere was lifted and there was nothing controversial about their next goal. Well, apart from the fact it was a header by one of the smallest players on the pitch.
Aaron Cresswell overcooked a cross which Coufal collected. He sent the ball back into the box, where Bowen got ahead of Gibson to secure a 1-0 half-time lead.
Michail Antonio should have made it 2-0 after turning Grant Hanley but couldn’t keep his effort down. Neither could Bowen when trying to chip Krul, as he struck the crossbar. The 25-yearold went on to strike the near post, too.
In the 68th minute, Norwich’s Adam Idah seemed set to celebrate scoring a screamer. Goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was alert, however, pushing Idah’s rocket on to a post with a strong hand.
West Ham were looking leggy and Moyes’ options on the bench included four academy kids, owing to Covid and injury issues. Bowen confirmed the 2-0 win in the 83rd minute by tapping in Arthur Masuaku’s cross, with VAR overturning the original onfield decision of offside.
West Ham’s 37 points is their greatest total after 21 matches of a premier League campaign. Another win for Moyes’ men. Another defeat for Smith’s strugglers.