Fornals flick finishes off Bournemouth as West Ham ease relegation fears

Declan Rice scored again to help West Ham end the perfect week with a vital 4-0 win at Bournemouth to boost their survival chances.

David Moyes’s side fought back from two down to draw with Arsenal, the Premier League leaders, last Sunday and followed it up with a 4-1 victory over Gent on Thursday to book their spot in the Europa Conference League semi-finals.

Relegation has remained a distinct possibility, though, but they eased those concerns with a clinical display where first-half goals by Michail Antonio, Lucas Paquetá and Rice put them in control. Pablo Fornals, on as a substitute, added a fourth midway through the second half to help West Ham move up to 13th and six points clear of the bottom three.

Despite their Thursday exploits, Moyes only made two changes at the Vitality Stadium and one was to recall his first-choice, Lukasz Fabianski, in goal. It meant Antonio got another opportunity to lead the line and he rewarded his manager’s faith with a fifth-minute opener.

For Bournemouth it was all too easy, with Aaron Cresswell’s near-post corner powered home by the unmarked Antonio for his 12th goal of the season (though only his fourth in the league). The visitors doubled their advantage eight minutes later and, again, it must have frustrated Gary O’Neil, the Bournemouth manager.

Vladimir Coufal won possession from Marcus Tavernier and controlled Jarrod Bowen’s pass before his looping cross was headed in at the back post by Paquetá, who easily outjumped Jack Stephens. It continued Paquetá’s encouraging form since the World Cup break and backed up his goalscoring display in Thursday’s triumph.

West Ham’s travelling support were enjoying their trip to the south coast and soon singing about rivals Tottenham, who were