A SUPERB SECOND half showing helped West Ham end a near month-long wait for a Premier League win with a 3-0 victory over Hull City at Upton Park.
In-form striker Andy Carroll tapped home his fifth Premier League goal of the season shortly after the break before substitute Morgan Amalfitano made it 2-0 with a clever dink and Stewart Downing added further gloss with a composed finish in the 72nd minute.
Victory for West Ham lifts them to seventh place, while Hull returned north still in the relegation zone.
Sone Aluko, who returned to the starting XI in one of three Hull changes from last weekend’s 1-0 loss at West Brom, was a constant torment for the West Ham defence in the first half , but he was twice guilty of over playing when he had the chance to shoot.
The hosts finished the half strong. Enner Valencia looped a header onto the crossbar and, when Downing returned the ball into the area, McGregor was on hand to make a smart low save from Tomkins’ header.
West Ham had more tempo to their play after the break and that resulted in the deadlock being broken in the 49th minute.
McGregor failed to parry Valencia’s 20-yard shot to safety and Carroll was quickest to react to tap in the rebound.
Hull almost gifted West Ham a second when Michael Dawson’s wayward pass was latched on by Valencia, who took a first poor touch before lashing his shot into the side-netting.
There was no let-off in the 69th minute, though, as Amalfitano – who had replaced Mark Noble three minutes earlier – collected Valencia’s through ball and his delicate chip beat the outstretched McGregor.
Hull’s misery was compounded three minutes later. Alex Song played a defence-splitting pass that sent Downing clear and the England international kept his composure to slot his shot into the bottom right-hand corner.
