West Ham 1 Sunderland 0: Winston Reid’s late stunner secures all three points for Slaven Bilic’s men

WINSTON REID set the London Stadium alight with a late winner for West Ham against Sunderland.

The Kiwi defender made contact with a Dimitri Payet corner in the dying moments, sweetly striking the ball into the net and sending the home crowd wild.

It had been a quiet match up to that point, with West Ham dominating proceedings but failing to find a breakthrough.

Payet hit the post in the first half, and on the other side, Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe saw little of the ball thanks to the Hammers’ compact defence.

Keep up to date with ALL the West Ham news, gossip, transfers and goals on our club page plus fixtures, results and live match commentary by clicking HERE

But Bilic is sure to be delighted to nick all three points following a poor start to the season as he now prepares for the eagerly-anticipated EFL Cup clash with Chelsea on Wednesday.

But it was misery for Black Cats boss David Moyes, who is yet to win in the Premier League after taking charge last summer.

FACTS, STATS, GOALS AND LOLS

• It took 27 minutes before West Hams fans remembered to boo former striker Jermain Defoe – a measure of how little he had seen of the ball as Sunderland were pinned back.
• The Wearsiders arrived as the first team to fail to win in their opening eight games  in consecutive seasons in the top flight since Bury in 1905 and 1906.
• Hammers fans are having trouble settling in at their new ground but dazzling Dimitri Payet clearly feels at home – hitting a post, twice more going close and setting up two big chances in the first 30 minutes.
• West Ham boss Slaven Bilic suffers with a dodgy hip and it cant help having to walk 30 yards from his dug-out to the touchline and back again throughout the game.
• It was total domination for the first half hour by West Ham but they failed to score – would they have managed it in the more intimidating atmosphere of their old home at Upton Park?

• Simone Zaza kicked off without a goal in five games for West Ham since arriving on loan from Juventus and spent half-time wondering what he had to do to get one after missing with three chances
• The big screen offers tours of the London Stadium but the home supporters are surely going to want to see a run of good home results before they’ll fancy a  behind-the-scenes visit.
• Jermain Defoe had scored six times in the Premier League against West Ham since leaving in 2004 and was very close with a dipping shot just above the bar in the 47th minute.
• Mark Noble had said the win at Crystal Palace marked a turning point for the Hammers but their frustrations were clear again for much of the afternoon in east London.
• Striker Andre Ayew – West Ham’s £20 million record signing – is on his way back from injury at last and it can’t  come quickly enough as their lack of firepower was exposed for much of this match.

THE BIG PICTURE

West Ham’s next five fixtures:

Chelsea (H): 26 Oct – EFL

Everton (A): 30 Oct – Prem

Stoke (H): 5 Nov – Prem

Tottenham (A): 19 Nov – Prem

Man Utd (A): 27 Nov – Prem

Sunderland’s next five fixtures

Southampton (A): 26 Oct – EFL

Arsenal (H): 29 Oct – Prem

Bournemouth (A): 5 Nov – Prem

Hull (H): 19 Nov – Prem

Liverpool (A): 26 Nov – Prem

DREAM TEAM RATINGS

West Ham: Adrian 6, Kouyate 7, Reid 8, Ogbonna 7, Antonio 6 (Feghouli 6), Noble 8, Obiang 7, Fernandes 7, Lanzini 6 (Fletcher 6), Zaza 6 (Calleri 6), Payet 8

Subs not used: Nordtveit, Collins, Spiegel, Oxford

Goal: Reid 90’ +4

Booked: Reid, Fernandes

Sunderland: Pickford 6, Manquillo 6, Kone 7, O’Shea 6, Van Aanholt 7, Watmore 6 (Gooch 6), Rodwell 7, Ndong 6, Pienaar 6 (McNair 5), Khazri 6 (Jones 5), Defoe 6

Subs not used: Djilobodji, Mika, Anichebe, Honeyman

Booked: Rodwell, Ndong, Pienaar, Khazri, Jones

WHAT THEY SAID

West Ham goal scorer Winston Reid:“Obviously after the period we have been in it was so important to get the three points.

“We played well in the first half an hour and they got back into it. Second half we didn’t start well, it was a bit back and fourth but we were fortunate at the end I was able to put one in.

“We kept going until the end and believed we could get something out of it. We just need to get injured players back and get the squad fully fit.”