West Ham beat Burnley to move level in relegation fight

West Ham United won back-to-back Premier League home games for the first time since October 2024 after coming from behind to beat Burnley 3-2 on Saturday.

As they did against Newcastle United last time out, West Ham went a goal behind following Zian Flemming’s 35th-minute header.

The hosts managed to draw level before the break thanks to Callum Wilson's header from close range.

However, two of Nuno Espirito Santo’s substitutes sealed the win late on, with Tomas Soucek and Kyle Walker-Peters both profiting from errors by visiting goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.

Josh Cullen made it a nervy final few moments for West Ham after finding the net deep in stoppage time following a mistake from Alphonse Areola, but the hosts were able to navigate that late scare.

West Ham remain in the bottom three but move level on points with 17th-placed Burnley on 10 points ahead of the November international break.

How the match unfolded

Following a sustained spell of pressure, Burnley were rewarded by Flemming’s excellent header, with the forward picking out the bottom-right corner from Lesley Ugochukwu’s delivery.

However, West Ham restored parity nine minutes later through Wilson, who nodded past Dubravka after a deflected Crysencio Summerville shot bounced kindly into his path.

The second half adopted an end-to-end feel, but West Ham gained the upper hand in the 77th minute when Dubravka fumbled Lucas Paqueta’s cross, which allowed Soucek to chest home on the line.

Watch: Soucek's goal v Burnley

Only 10 minutes later, Soucek was again involved, with his shot from distance after a driving run spilled by Dubravka once more, with Walker-Peters on hand to guide it into the net ahead of Jarrod Bowen for his first West Ham goal.

Watch: Walker-Peters' goal v Burnley

But another goalkeeping error at the other end offered Burnley hope of snatching a point as Areola dropped Hannibal Mejbri's cross-shot, with Cullen profiting in the seventh minute of stoppage time, but it proved too little, too late for the visitors.

Feel-good factor returns for the Hammers

Ahead of kick-off, Nuno insisted he was not yet worried about the predicament that West Ham found themselves in at this stage of the campaign, but the former Nottingham Forest boss will feel a lot better about his side after their win here.

The opening exchanges offered few chances for either side. Still, Burnley looked the more likely to threaten, and they did just that as Flemming brilliantly headed them in front.

That had not been helped by Paqueta’s 25th-minute booking, with the Brazilian now ruled out of West Ham’s next Premier League assignment away to AFC Bournemouth on 22 November after accumulating five yellow cards this season.

But that setback seemingly sprang West Ham into life, with Bowen almost levelling merely moments later, only to see his goal-bound shot deflected just wide of Dubravka’s right-hand post by Cullen.

West Ham improved after the break and got the goals their performance merited through Soucek and Walker-Peters, though Nuno will be frustrated at allowing Burnley in with a shout late on.

The international break perhaps comes at the worst possible time for West Ham, who will be hoping to carry this momentum into that encounter with Bournemouth in two weeks’ time.

Parker and Burnley left to rue missed chances

Burnley’s possession-based philosophy under Scott Parker has brought them huge success upon their return to the Premier League, and their quality with the ball showed early in the match as they aimed to silence the already subdued West Ham crowd further.

Though not troubling Areola, the visitors had their chances as Ugochukwu saw his shot deflected wide by Maximilian Kilman before the Frenchman’s teasing delivery narrowly evaded the sliding Flemming.

Flemming was able to give Burnley a deserved lead, and their first-half display perhaps warranted more, but those missed chances came back to bite them as Wilson hit them with a sucker punch at the end of the first half, much to Parker’s frustration.

From there, Burnley provided little goal threat at the other end as West Ham grew more confident, with Soucek and Walker-Peters’ strikes late on proving too much to come back from, despite Cullen’s late intervention offering the small chance of taking a point back to Turf Moor.

But the quality of the chances you get in the Premier League must be taken, and Burnley will go back to the drawing board ahead of their return to top-flight action in a tough test at home to Chelsea on 22 November.

Club reports

West Ham report | Burnley report

What the managers said

Nuno Espirito Santo: "Again, unfortunately we had to react. We didn't start the game very well, there was no urgency. But the reaction. I'm happy for that. I think the second half we were much better. Overall the team was organised and this was a special day for all of us and all of our fans."

Scott Parker: "In crucial moments there was definitely some switching off. We fell a little bit short in certain moments today. We started the game so, so well.

"But from the moment we scored we lost some concentration, some focus. We turned the game into a basketball match which is exactly how West Ham wanted to play."

Next PL fixtures

Key facts

West Ham have won consecutive Premier League games despite conceding the first goal each time (also 3-1 v Newcastle). It’s the first time they’ve done so since December 2014 (v West Brom and Swansea).

Soucek scored his 38th Premier League goal for West Ham, the joint-most of all Czech players in the competiton’s history (level with Patrik Berger).

Twenty-four of Soucek’s 38 Premier League goals for West Ham have put them one goal ahead in the match – only Michail Antonio (34) and Bowen (27) have scored more such goals for the Hammers.

Burnley have conceded at least twice in each of their last seven Premier League away games, their longest run since their first 11 on the road in the competition between August 2009 and January 2010.