![Prost International [PINT]](https://prostinternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/PINTtFontLogoRoboto1536x78.jpg)
West Ham 3 : 1 Cardiff City
West Ham proved too good for Cardiff City at The Olympic Stadium as they ran out comfortable 3-1 winners. Mauricio Pellegrini’s side made it two wins in a row going into the Crrystal Palace game this coming weekend, whilst Cardiff did nothing to prove they are going to pull themselves free of the relegation fight this season.
The first half had very little to get excited about despite a number of attempts at goal from both sides. Marko Arnautovic proved to be a nuisance upfront, getting stuck in to the Cardiff defenders, and putting them under pressure and winning the ball in dangerous areas.
The home side lacked that killer pass, with the partnership between Javier Hernandez and Arnautovic not producing the goods as was expected.
Cardiff put themselves about, with their own forward Calum Paterson giving Issa Diop a hard time, latching onto a long ball and bullying the central defender before laying the ball off for Victor Camarasa to sting the gloves of Lukas Fabianski.
Soon after came the flashpoint of the first half, Arnautonic naively, and needlessly, challenged Junior Hoilett on just inside the area when the Cardiff forward was going nowhere, resulting in a penalty for the Welsh side.
Words were spoken between Camarasa and Joe Ralls about who should take the penalty, Ralls won the war of words then proceeded to produce a soft attempt which Fabianski gratefully pounced on down to his left.
West Ham then lost Arnautovic to injury and was replaced by former Arsenal striker Lucas Perez, who saw out the last few minutes of the half.
West Ham took the lead early in the second half, Perez pouncing on a pass behind the defence from Robert Snodgrass to slam the ball past the Neil Etheridge in the Cardiff goal.
Perez doubled his tally and the lead just five minutes later, slotting through Etheridge’s legs after good work by full back Arthur Masuaku. Cardiff failed to impost themselves on the game at all, with West Ham clearly the better side throughout the game.
Paterson worked hard up top whilst Hoilett offered some flair on the flanks, but the game was killed off on the hour mark. Michail Antonio, playing at right back today, snuck in a near post header from a Snodgrass corner, sending West Ham on their way to three points.
Warnock removed Paterson and Hoilett, with a huge game against Southampton at the weekend, they need to recuperate their fitness and make sure they are available for that game.
West Ham continued to dominate, and should have added more, Felipe Anderson wasted a chance, as did Perez. The introduction of Grady Diangana lit up West Ham’s left flank, showing of his pace and skill to create chance after chance.
Cardiff got a late consolation goal after some horrific defending by West Ham from a corner kick, the ball bouncing around the area before Josh Murphy tapped in with the last play of the game.
West Ham stay in 12th but will take confidence into the weekend game against Crystal Palace, who tasted defeat tonight whilst Warnock will need to put a lot of work on the training ground to ensure his side are at their best when they face Southampton on Saturday.
