Jarrod Bowen inspired West Ham to an impressive 4-1 Premier League win over Ipswich Town to ease the pressure on manager Julen Lopetegui.

Bowen, who was left out of interim England coach Lee Carsley’s UEFA Nations League squad for the upcoming games against Greece and Finland, returned to his best form to give Lopetegui his first home league win since David Moyes took over in the summer had replaced the coaching bench.

Last weekend West Ham fell behind within a minute at Brentford, but this time they took the lead themselves within 48 seconds when Bowen’s low cross was converted by the impressive Michail Antonio.

However, the hosts’ lead lasted all of five minutes. Liam Delap is quickly establishing himself as a strong player at this level and when Lucas Paqueta gave him too much time to retrieve a loose ball from a corner, the young Man City academy product cut inside and smashed his powerful shot under Alphonse Areola .

Areola should have done better and was rooted to the spot when Jacob Greaves fired a glancing header just past Leif Davis’ free-kick later in the half.

West Ham took their chance as, not long after Mohammed Kudus hit the post following an inviting cross from Antonio, the Ghanaian was quickest to react, converting from close range after Antonio’s header bounced off the underside of the crossbar from a pass from Paqueta.

Ipswich were fortunate not to fall behind earlier as Tomas Soucek’s shot was cleared off the line by Dara O’Shea following a mix-up between Arijanet Muric and Sam Morsy.

The visitors were the authors of their own downfall at the restart when Muric struggled to control a back pass from Ben Johnson and presented the ball to Bowen, who strolled through Kalvin Phillips into the far corner (49′).

Paqueta added extra gloss to the result with a simple touch-in from Bowen’s low cross, securing the Hammers only their second home Premier League win in ten attempts, moving them up to 12th in the table. Ipswich remain in 17th place with four points.

Storm clouds pass West Ham

It was a stunning performance from Bowen as his team finished off their fruitless home run in style. West Ham spent around £132m in the summer transfer window and recouped around £32.5m, but started the weekend 14th in the Premier League, just two points above the relegation zone.

This victory helps address ongoing concerns surrounding Lopetegui’s appointment. At times in the first half they threatened to make it difficult to capitalize on their first home win of the season in the league.

In the end it was the old West Ham. There could have been five or six. After a rocky start to the campaign, the storm clouds are passing.

Lopetegui said: “We are happy when we win. That’s what we work for. We are happy for the fans because they deserve it and for the players who work very hard. It was against a good team. They didn’t do that.’ I lost to Aston Villa, Fulham, Southampton and Brighton so it’s a good win.

“We started better, but we also conceded a very early goal. We conceded a goal in the first corner and maybe we could have done better. That was crucial because the team then showed a strong mentality. You have to be strong in the bad moments.” We did that against Brentford and we did that again today. This is important to highlight because it will help us become a better team.”

Phillips endures a hot return

Phillips was back at the London Stadium, where he spent a frustrating spell on loan from Manchester City last season, not getting the kind of game time he wanted after struggling to break into Pep Guardiola’s team.

But within a minute it was his mistake that led to West Ham’s lead. The result was probably tough, but the Tractor Boys remain winless on their return to the top flight.

After four impressive draws, this defeat in the capital is a reality check for Ipswich, who more than held their own in the first half but were ultimately outclassed with Bowen at the helm.

Delap continued his goalscoring prowess, but now others need to help. Like Luton last season, there is a lot to like about the way they attack games, but similar to the Hatters they are too open at the back.

Their second-half performance was as poor as any 45 minutes McKenna’s side have shown so far this season.

“It was a disappointing day for us,” said the Ipswich coach. “For the most part it was a hard-fought and even game in the first half. We played good football but conceded bad goals, which changed the dynamic of the game.”

“We didn’t handle the direct game well enough. The goals came in those moments, so there is still a lot for us to learn.”

“They didn’t have to work hard for their goals. Apart from the fourth, the goals came too easily. They have quality and they showed that with the goals and chances they created when you gave them opportunities.”

Kudus has finally done it – Opta stats

• West Ham’s Mohammed Kudus scored his first league goal of the season with his 18th attempt; previously only Bruno Fernandes (17) had more shots without a goal in the 2024/25 Premier League than the Ghanaian (15).
• West Ham claimed their first Premier League home win of the season, their biggest victory in the competition since last December (3-0 against Wolves).
• This was the earliest goal scored by either team in a Premier League game between West Ham and Ipswich, following Liam Delap’s sixth-minute equaliser.
• West Ham had 13 shots on goal against Ipswich; the most in a Premier League since records began (since 2003–2004).

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