A fantastic first-half performance helped West Ham blow away Sunderland and move to with two points of 17th-placed Nottingham Forest and safety.
The Hammers opened the scoring in the 14th minute when Jarrod Bowen’s cross was met by Crysencio Summerville’s thumping header.
Ollie Scarles was then tripped by Trai Hume in the penalty area 14 minutes later and Bowen dispatched the resulting penalty into the bottom left corner.
West Ham rounded off their fine opening 45 minutes with a Mateus Fernandes thunderbolt when the midfielder found the top corner from long range on the stroke of half-time.
It meant West Ham led 3-0 at home at half-time in a Premier League match for the first time since July 2020 against Watford.
In the second period, Sunderland narrowed the deficit through Brian Brobbey who headed in Nordi Mukiele’s cross.
The visitors hit the woodwork late on when Luke O’Nien’s mishit cross was tipped on to the bar by Alphonse Areola.
West Ham also hit the woodwork in second-half stoppage time when Fernandes crunched another spectacular strike from long range against the underside of the crossbar.
The match was briefly stopped in the closing stages to review an incident between injured Sunderland midfielder Granit Xhaka, who was sitting on his team’s bench, and a West Ham fan, but the video assistant referee said play could continue with no action taken.
The result means West Ham have won three games in a row in all competitions for the first time since November 2023.
It backs up their victory at Tottenham last weekend and increased pressure on relegation rivals Nottingham Forest and Leeds United.
Forest take on Brentford away from home on Sunday while Leeds travel to Everton on Monday.
