West Ham United secured an incredibly important 3-1 victory over Sunderland to boost their Premier League survival hopes.
Three first-half goals from Crysencio Summerville, Jarrod Bowen, and Mateus Fernandes were enough to wrap up the points.
Sunderland struggled defensively without their leader, Granit Xhaka, who missed the game due to an ankle injury.
The ‘Black Cats’ pushed the Hammers in the second half.
However, they only managed one goal thanks to Brian Brobbey’s 65th-minute header.
West Ham are now two points off Nottingham Forest in 17th place, who face highfliers Brentford away on Sunday.
The win also eases pressure on Nuno Espirito Santo, with the Hammers on a three-game winning streak.
It was an expected, nervous, and edgy start from the hosts.
They could have gone 1-0 down from Noah Sadiki’s expert half volley from the edge of the box.
Sadiki’s strike was a wake-up call for the Hammers, who took decisive action in taking the game to the promoted side.
Espirito Santo’s men dominated the ball in the early patches (69%) and began to sense Sunderland’s defensive frailties in captain Xhaka’s absence.
It took 13 minutes before the London Stadium had lift off, with Crysencio Summerville rising above everyone to expertly fire a bullet header past Robin Roefs. 1-0.
Jarrod Bowen’s stand-up cross for the goal was his 102nd goal contribution for West Ham in the Premier League, taking top spot.
Sunderland had a couple of chances of their own to bring the scoreline level.
On the 15th minute mark, the ball dropped perfectly for Trai Hume from a long throw-in, but he couldn’t direct his looping header on target.
Just after, Enzo le Fee directed a long cross into the box from just over the halfway line.
Sunderland defender Dan Ballard was on the end of it, but his header dropped over the crossbar.
The ‘Black Cats’ lack of decisiveness in the West Ham box was punished when Hume brought down Oliver Scarles in the box in the 25th minute.
Captain Bowen had ice in his veins, slotting the ball with precision into the bottom right corner of the net. 2-0.
The away side began to weather the West Ham onslaught, keeping possession and trying to limit the damage.
However, Mateus Fernandes capped off a perfect first-half display for the Hammers on the stroke of half-time.
The central midfielder picked up the ball from 25 yards out after a cleared Sunderland header and whipped the ball perfectly into the top corner to make it 3-0.
Sunderland manager Le Bris knew changes needed to be made for the second half, making a triple-change.
Reinildo was replaced by Dennis Cirkin, Romaine Mundle for Chemsdine Talbi, and Habib Diarra replaced Hume.
The opening 15 minutes of the second half were cagey.
The Hammers looked defensively astute, soaking up any half-chance that Sunderland produced.
Summerville continued to torment Mukiele down the left-hand side, creating the first real chance of the second half.
Just after the hour, the winger slipped Castellanos in on the edge of the box, but his effort was fired into the hands of Roefs.
On the 65th minute, Sunderland was handed a lifeline when Brian Brobbey fired in a header from Mukiele’s pinpoint cross.
The Dutch striker was left all alone in the Hammers' penalty area, continuing West Ham’s dismal clean sheet record.
It’s now 20 league games in a row that West Ham has failed to keep a clean sheet.
There were nervous groans around the London Stadium following Sunderland’s goal as the away side continued to dominate the ball.
The hosts’ first-half attacking potency dried up in the second half, with Sunderland playing on the front foot and looking to add a second.
The chance came on the 82nd minute, when sub-Talbi found fellow sub-Wilson Isidor free in the penalty area.
Isidor peeled off Malik Diouf at the back post, but he sliced his volley attempt way over the crossbar.
Two minutes later, Luke O’Nien’s attempted cross freakishly went straight towards the top corner.
Alphonse Areola tipped the ball onto his post and gratefully grasped the ball into his arms.
In the 88th minute, the game was paused momentarily by the referee for an off-field issue between Xhaka and the West Ham fans.
Chaos ensued in the added time. Fernandes hit another incredible strike from the edge of the box, which was fired against the crossbar.
As Fernandes hit the ball, West Ham’s Konstantinos Mavropanos and Sunderland’s Omar Alderate looked to be in a tussle on the goal line.
The ball was headed back towards the goal, and seemed to have dropped over the line, but the referee ruled a foul on Roefs.
Despite a spirited Sunderland second-half performance, the Hammers held on to record a much-needed victory.
