West Ham United fans of a certain vintage will remember how Carlos Tévez once came to the rescue. Now the new generation of Hammers have an Argentinian hero to hang their hopes on.
Valentín Castellanos, the Mendoza-born striker who goes by the nickname Taty, wasted no time in bringing Tévez’s name into the conversation when he sealed a reported £27million move from Lazio last month.
After talking the talk, Castellanos started walking the walk with his first Premier League goal as Nuno Espírito Santo’s side secured victory at Turf Moor in a game that neither side could afford to lose.
It was a strike Tévez himself would admire. Castellanos’s movement to lose his marker Maxime Estève, as El Hadji Malick Diouf shaped to cross from the left, was a lesson in how to be elusive. His deft downward header to beat Martin Dubravka was just as impressive.
West Ham were two up inside 26 minutes and as good as home and hosed.
Their first goal, in the 13th minute, was also easy on the eye. Mateus Fernandes burst powerfully forward from the centre circle before playing a pass that had such perfect timing it gave Crysencio Summerville a head start in a race with Kyle Walker before he lifted a measured finish over Dubravka.
Summerville puts West Ham ahead in the 13th minute with a lovely dinked finish over Dubravka. He is the first player to score in five consecutive appearances for West Ham in all competitions since Jesse Lingard in 2021
MOLLY DARLINGTON/GETTY IMAGES
Nuno was also delighted with the first clean sheet of his West Ham reign — the London side’s first in the Premier League since August. He said: “It is fantastic. Football starts from there. If we are solid and compact, like we were today, then with the talent we have, we can do well and achieve results.
“We go day by day. We started really, really well, but it has been this way for some time now. The team is growing and I’m really pleased with the way we defended and how we contained Burnley. If we can solve our problems in defence, then we have really talented players who can help the team.”
Nuno’s decision to pair his new centre forward in attack with Callum Wilson was a brave one given that wingers Summerville and Jarrod Bowen had been clearly instructed to keep the home side stretched high and wide.
In central midfield, Fernandes and Tomas Soucek were disciplined and dominant, apart from during a brief Burnley riposte early in the second half when Scott Parker’s side threatened to make a game of it.
It was back in 2007 that Tévez scored six goals in West Ham’s last nine games of the season to lead them to safety and guarantee himself a place in east London folklore.
So Castellanos still has plenty of work to do. But the Hammers are now just three points off fourth-bottom Nottingham Forest and in decent form.
Burnley, on the other hand, are staring into the abyss. Forest made history when they stayed up with only 32 points two seasons ago, but the Clarets don’t look capable of hitting even that tally. The Lancastrians remain second bottom, 11 points from safety, having won only three games all season.
Castellanos heads in Diouf’s inviting cross to double the visiting team’s lead in the 26th minute
JASON CAIRNDUFF/REUTERS
Burnley head coach Parker was given little sympathy from the fans who had travelled from the capital. A three-times “Hammer of the Year” as a player, Parker has never been forgiven for joining Tottenham Hotspur after West Ham’s relegation in 2011.
There were also jeers from the home supporters at the final whistle. Parker’s team hardly laid a glove on West Ham, with Axel Disasi impressive on his debut at the heart of West Ham’s defence after his arrival on loan from Chelsea.
Marcus Edwards twice went close for the home side from distance and also saw a close-range shot blocked by Disasi. The West Ham goalkeeper Mads Hermansen, making his first Premier League appearance since September, then produced an instinctive save to block Zian Flemming’s header.
“There’s obviously a confidence issue at the moment and the whole environment today was testing for the players,” Parker said. “The only way in this world that you can turn this around is by winning. Football has become like that. If your team concede a goal, you’re going to boo and I understand the fans’ frustration.
“I’m a fighter and I’ve experienced a lot of things in my life. I’ve been through a lot of adversity and I’ve been through a lot of challenges. The one thing I hold firmly and stand by is that in these moments of pure adversity, I will not waver. I will always stand up and I’ll always represent this group.”
Burnley (4-2-3-1): M Dubravka — K Walker, B Humphreys, M Estève, L Pires — M Edwards (L Tchaouna 67min), H Mejbri — Florentino (J Laurent 46), L Ugochukwu (A Broja 79), J Anthony (J Bruun Larsen 66) — Z Flemming (L Foster 67). Booked Florentino, Humphreys, Laurent.
West Ham (4-4-1-1): M Hermansen — A Wan-Bissaka, A Disasi, K Mavropanos, E Diouf (O Scarles 79) — J Bowen (K Walker-Peters 90+2), T Soucek, M Fernandes, C Summerville (Traore 92) — C Wilson (F Potts 57) — V Castellanos (Pablo 79). Booked Diouf.
Referee D England. Attendance 21,273.