West Ham demolish Swansea 4-1

Andy Carrol

West Ham cruised to a third straight win to plunge Swansea City deeper into Premier League relegation trouble and increase the pressure on manager Bob Bradley.

Former Swans forward Andre Ayew pounced on Lukasz Fabianski’s fumble to put the visitors ahead, before Winston Reid headed in from a corner to double their lead.

Michail Antonio added a third and, although Fernando Llorente scored late on for Swansea, Andy Carroll’s firm strike sealed a convincing West Ham victory.

Slaven Bilic’s side climb to 11th in the Premier League table, while Swansea remain second from bottom but now four points adrift of safety.

Where Bradley is concerned, a seventh defeat from his 11 matches in charge leaves the American in grave danger of losing his job less than three months after his appointment.

Swansea’s supporters called for his sacking during the second half, as well as accusing the club’s directors of greed following the Swans’ American takeover in the summer.

Pressure mounts on Bradley

Having won only two of his first 10 games at the helm, Bradley admitted before the match that his future could depend on the outcome of this fixture and the home encounter with Bournemouth on New Year’s Eve.

Swansea had unravelled with scant resistance to lose their previous two games, at Middlesbrough and West Brom 3-0 and 3-1 respectively, and they were similarly vulnerable against West Ham.

Since the American’s appointment in October the Swans had conceded 25 goals – more than any other Premier League side in the same period – and their 26th was as feeble as any they have let in.

Cheikhou Kouyate only managed a weak flick from Andy Carroll’s header, but Fabianski could only palm the ball into the path of Ayew, who tapped in from close range.

The goal created a sense of anxiety inside the Liberty Stadium, and that unease turned to wholehearted hostility after Reid extended West Ham’s lead.

Swansea’s supporters booed Bradley and chanted ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’, before turning their ire towards the Swans’ board as the prospect of relegation looms larger than ever.

West Ham revival continues

Unlike their opponents, West Ham entered this match with renewed optimism after successive 1-0 wins over Hull and Burnley had eased their own relegation fears.

Those were relatively hard-earned triumphs, but they were able to cruise to victory in south Wales without playing at their fluent best.

It was a straightforward afternoon for goalkeeper Darren Randolph and his defenders, who had little to worry about apart from the occasional long-range effort from Gylfi Sigurdsson.

In attack, West Ham were clinical on the break and from set-pieces, with midfielder Dimitri Payet increasingly influential in the second half.

Carroll also proved his worth with a typically abrasive display, capped with a goal which helped maintain the Hammers’ record of winning every Premier League match in which the striker has started since returning from injury.