Three Points, Three Goals and Just Enough Panic

Well, you couldn’t have scripted a better opening act if you’d tried.

Six minutes on the clock, Joël Piroe pops up to tuck one away, and suddenly the London Stadium is in full voice, ready for a thoroughly comfortable afternoon. For the next hour, we looked entirely in command, stroking the ball around, dominating territory and generally enjoying ourselves.

And then, right on cue, classic West Ham stepped into the room.

Instead of putting the game firmly to bed, we embarked on our favourite weekly drama: squandering possession, misplacing the final pass and leaving the door just wide enough open to keep fifty thousand people wondering whether Derby might somehow scramble an equaliser from absolutely nowhere.

It is a remarkable talent, really. The ability to turn a completely dominant performance into a collective anxiety session without ever appearing particularly close to losing is very West Ham.

Thankfully, the bench came through to spare our collective nerves. Deadline-day arrival Edvin Austbø popped up in the 87th minute to finally double the lead and allow everyone to breathe normally again. Then, deep into stoppage time, young Mohamadou Kanté smashed home a third from distance, turning what had felt like a potential nail-biter into a thoroughly comfortable scoreline.

And that was that.

There is still plenty of room to improve, particularly when it comes to finding that killer instinct and finishing teams off while we are on top. But back-to-back home wins and six points in a week is a bloody good place to start building some momentum.

For once, the panic was entirely optional.

Onwards and upwards.