SCOTT PARKER was on the brink of being sacked by Burnley last night after Crysencio Summerville and Valentin ‘Taty’ Castellanos steered West Ham to a crucial victory at Turf Moor.
This third win in four games for the Hammers hoisted them to within three points of fourth-bottom .
West Ham beat Burnley 2-0 at Turf Moor to pile the pressure on Scott ParkerCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
The defeat leaves Parker and his men 11 points adrift of Nottingham Forest and safetyCredit: Alamy
But may as well start planning for the after this devastating defeat leaves them 11 points from safety with just 13 games left.
Fans booed the team during what was a simply pathetic performance from the hosts — as they went 16 games without a win while only kept their second clean sheet of the season.
And if this proves to be Parker’s last game as Clarets boss, it would be ironic that his time at Turf Moor was ended by a club where he is revered by fans for his time as Hammers captain.
This was a huge game for both clubs. With Forest losing to , it gave West Ham the chance to get within touching distance while for Burnley it would have at least given them some faint hope.
But this contest was decided inside the opening 26 minutes.
Summerville fired home for a fifth game in a row to get the Hammers up and running before Taty placed a wonderful header past Martin Dubravka.
Nuno gave a debut to deadline-day signing from , .
He replaced after he picked up a three-match ban for throttling Chelsea’s Joao Pedro in an ill-tempered end to their 3-2 loss at last Saturday.
The Hammers boss opted to start in place of Pablo who dropped to the bench — while keeper made his first Prem start since September in place of
West Ham have been in good form of late — beating QPR in the before back-to-back Prem wins over Spurs and but let a two-goal lead slip against the Blues.
The Hammers had a productive transfer window — also bringing in strikers Pablo and Castellanos and winger Adama Traore.
Burnley’s only bit of business was bringing in midfielder on loan from West Ham — although he was prohibited from playing against his parent club.
But it was the Hammers who started on the front foot and Summerville went down under a challenge from in the box but ref Darren England was unmoved.
Yet they moved in front.
picked up the ball and played a peach of a pass for Summerville to run on to and slot past the advancing Martin Dubravka.
It is 22 games since Burnley have kept a clean sheet — the worst run across the top five tiers of English football.
And Burnley fans broke into deafening chants of “sack the board”.
And it got worse for the home faithful as the Hammers doubled their lead 14 minutes later.
El Hadji Diouf played a brilliant ball from the right for Taty to plant an equally superb header past Dubravka.
Some angry home fans left their seats in disgust.
Burnley were struggling to carry any kind of threat.
But when Hannibal Mejbri’s cross to the far post found , he sliced his effort over.
Yet they did go close when Mejbri pushed a pass to on the edge of the box and he curled a shot inches wide — although Hermansen may have just about had it covered.
Diouf had his name taken after dragging down Edwards as he looked set to motor away.
After the break Disasi was on hand to block a Zian Flemming header from just eight yards.
Hermansen had to be alert to tip a low 20-yard shot from Edwards around the right post.
Burnley were putting the visitors under the cosh and Hermansen made a point-blank stop to keep out Flemming again.
West Ham missed a glorious chance to put the game to bed when muscled past Bashir Humphries but fired an angled shot that just evaded Summerville. A simple squared pass would have surely finished the job.
Humphreys hammered a low drive wide from a distance.
Summerville really had the beating of Walker all afternoon — and the star gave him a frustrated shove as thousands of home fans started to leave.
But for the Hammers it was a happy trip back down to East London.
They are still six off Leeds, Crystal Palace (with a game in hand), and Spurs.
But the weekend’s early results – a big win for Leeds over Forest and Manchester United beating Tottenham – have shifted the dynamic again.
First half goals from , who scored in his fifth straight match, and Valentin Castellanos put the away side in control.
Nuno’s men then held out for a vital three points.
Crysencio Summerville scored in a fifth game in a rowCredit: Reuters
Valentin Castellanos doubled the lead before half-timeCredit: Reuters
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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