West Ham win at Goodison on Pellegrini’s 65th birthday

Andriy yarmolenko helped West Ham United collect their first points of the Premier League season, scoring twice in yesterday afternoon’s surprise 3-1 victory at Everton.

West Ham had scored just twice in their opening four matches, but matched that in the opening 31 minutes at Goodison Park thanks to Yarmolenko, who joined in the summer from Borussia Dortmund. This was the striker’s full Premier League debut.

Everton manager Marco Silva’s tactical substitution a minute before half-time paid instant dividends as Gylfi Sigurdsson pulled a goal back in stoppage time. But Marko Arnautovic’s third of the season in the second half capped a fine individual performance and confirmed Everton’s first loss of the campaign.

The result eased the pressure on West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini, who was celebrating his 65th birthday. “I was absolutely convinced we would get this result,” said the Chilean. “We were very unlucky to lose the last three games. Maybe we didn’t deserve to win, but we didn’t deserve to lose also. I did not want to change things because I was convinced we could win this game.”

In yesterday’s early kickoff, a Raul Jimenez goal gave Wolverhampton Wanderers their first home league win of the season against a struggling

Burnley side still searching for their first victory.

The 1-0 scoreline flattered Burnley, who only remained in the game for so long through the brilliance of goalkeeper Joe Hart, who denied Helder Costa, Jimenez, Otto and Ruben Neves before he was finally beaten in the 61st minute. Jimenez got his second goal of the campaign with a deft flick from a Matt Doherty cross.

“Joe was so busy because they were the better side, definitely on the creative side of the game,” admitted Burnley boss Sean Dyche. “They’ve invested very well over the last couple of years and you can see it.”