Jarrod Bowen scored his first English Premier League hat trick for West Ham as they beat Brentford 4-2 and eased pressure on coach David Moyes on Monday.
The Hammers’ first win in 2024 ended an eight-game winless
run in all competitions.
West Ham jumped from 10th to eighth in the league, behind
Brighton only on goal difference.
Brentford was 16th, five points above the relegation zone.
Bowen was already West Ham’s top goal-scorer but he hadn’t
scored in the league since before Christmas, and he broke that drought in
spectacular fashion.
His first goal was a potent left-foot strike that gave the
goalkeeper no chance, and the second capped a counter-attack when he
side-footed home a cross from Vladimír Coufal.
Neal Maupay got one back soon after for Brentford but Bowden
grabbed his and West Ham’s third after 63 minutes when he headed home a cross
from Mohammed Kudus.
Full-back Emerson Palmieri made it 4-1 six minutes later
with a spectacular long-range shot.
Yoane Wissa got a second for Brentford with eight minutes
remaining.
MAIDSTONE’S CUP RUN ENDS
A first-half hat trick from Coventry’s Ellis Simms helped to
end Maidstone’s FA Cup fairy tale 5-0.
Maidstone was the first sixth-tier team to appear in the
fifth round since 1978.
But second-tier Coventry was too strong from the off, with
Kasey Palmer pulling the strings in midfield.
His passes helped Simms to his first hat trick for the club.
Tavares Desidério got two more in the dying seconds to complete the rout.
The rest of the fifth-round ties will be played on Tuesday
and Wednesday. -AP