EPL

Debutant George Earthy taken to hospital after West Ham’s loss to Fulham

By Sports Desk April 14, 2024

West Ham teenager George Earthy was taken to hospital after suffering a horror head injury just two minutes into his Premier League debut.

The 19-year-old had just come on as a substitute when he collided with team-mate Edson Alvarez in the middle of the field.

Earthy fell to the ground awkwardly and appeared to have been knocked out cold, sparking worrying scenes as medics and team-mates rushed to help the stricken youngster.

After receiving treatment for eight minutes, Earthy was carried off on a stretcher. He was conscious when he was taken out of the London Stadium in an ambulance around 20 minutes after full-time.

The Hammers said: “West Ham United can confirm George Earthy will undergo an assessment in a London hospital this evening following the incident which saw him stretchered off during today’s Premier League fixture against Fulham.

“The midfielder – who entered the field as a second half substitute to make his Premier League debut against the Cottagers – was taken off in stoppage time.”

Manager David Moyes said: “I am really disappointed for George. He has been doing really well in training, done really well for the Under-21s.

“He started well with the ball, had some really nice touches. He is fine. It is a head knock. He is awake and has gone to hospital, we think he is OK at the moment. We all thought he had been knocked out but I don’t know any more.”

The incident overshadowed a 2-0 victory for Fulham courtesy of two goals from Andreas Pereira.

It was a second blow to West Ham’s European hopes in the space of four days, following Thursday night’s 2-0 Europa League first-leg defeat at Bayer Leverkusen, as a win would have lifted them to sixth.

“I thought we started well and should have been one or two goals up before they scored,” added Moyes.

“We were caught out by a long ball, we didn’t deal with it well. And we missed some opportunities to score as well. I think we dominated possession, kept the ball and passed it quite well. But we got done on the counter-attack.

“I’m gutted, today was a great chance to go sixth with five games to go, what a great position to be in.”

For Fulham it was a first win in four matches, and a first at West Ham since 2001.

Boss Marco Silva said: “Great win for us, well played from ourselves and to be honest we deserved the three points.

“West Ham had a good chance to score but after that, we scored the first goal and started to control the game. Overall we scored twice but created more chances to score as well.

“I think we were solid, compact and kept our concentration. We should have scored more goals to be even more comfortable.”

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    Wolves boss Gary O'Neil insists he retains the support of his players but understands some supporters want change after they suffered another damaging defeat to West Ham.

    Jarrod Bowen struck the winner as Wolves were beaten 2-1 at the London Stadium on Monday, their third straight loss after going down 4-2 to Bournemouth and 4-0 at Everton.

    Wolves are now four points adrift of safety in 19th place, ahead of a huge meeting with Ipswich Town – with whom they are level on points – at Molineux on Saturday.

    Monday's match had been billed as decisive for both O'Neil and West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui, with reports suggesting the Wolves hierarchy were considering a change regardless of the result.

    O'Neil feels Wolves' move to a self-sustainable approach to recruitment should serve as a mitigating factor for their struggles, but he knows calls for change will only intensify without an upturn in results.

    "The people above me are supportive, but of course the supporters want their football club to be successful. I understand them pointing the finger at me," O'Neil told Sky Sports.

    "When I arrived at this football club, they'd just collected 39 points in the Premier League. Since then, we've managed to make £200 million in player sales.

    "Now we're trying to find young players who can maybe give us a bit now then help us in the future. The Premier League is a ruthless league. 

    "I know we sit on nine points, but I'm proud of the players, they give us everything. A big game against Ipswich is coming and hopefully a few bits – and a few bits from the officials – will go our way.

    "We come out of here knowing the players are still ready to fight for us, as I already knew, and now we need a few more bits to go for us."

    Wolves actually created a higher expected goals (xG) figure than West Ham, with their 19 shots totalling 1.63 xG to West Ham's 1.01 xG from the same number of attempts.

    They also had grievances over both West Ham goals. Tomas Soucek's opener came from a corner despite replays showing Aaron Wan-Bissaka had played the ball behind, while some fans felt Konstantinos Mavropanos fouled Santiago Bueno in the build-up to Bowen's winner."

    "We probably edged the game, we created some good opportunities and then let ourselves down by losing our man from a corner, which apparently wasn't a corner – the ball came back off Wan-Bissaka last," O'Neil added.

    "It's crazy, because Santi Bueno was about to head the ball away and there's no way it was a different phase. It's a blatant foul, I don't know how many seconds it was before the goal but it wasn't many."

    Wolves have now conceded 38 goals in just 15 Premier League games this season, with 15 of those coming from set-pieces. Only in their two previous relegation campaigns of 2003-04 (20) and 2011-12 (18) have they shipped more such goals in a single Premier League season.

    "We lose our man around the back post... we'd worked on Soucek being a big threat. A big discussion needs to be had, obviously," O'Neil said of West Ham's first goal.

    "We've had those discussions, and we need to have them again. It's not a group that’s built to be strong at set-pieces, being competitive in those areas has been a struggle.

    "Like I said to the lads, for all our hard work, if we're going to lose Soucek and give West Ham a leg up in a moment where the crowd had gone... it's a big moment."

  • Soucek: West Ham players spoke with Antonio ahead of Wolves win Soucek: West Ham players spoke with Antonio ahead of Wolves win

    Tomas Soucek says he and his West Ham team-mates spoke with Michail Antonio via a video call prior to Monday's victory over Wolves.

    Antonio was involved in a road traffic collision on Saturday and has since undergone surgery on a fractured lower limb, as confirmed by the club.

    Soucek and matchwinner Jarrod Bowen subsequently dedicated their goals to Antonio in the 2-1 Premier League victory over Wolves at the London Stadium.

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    "He's been here since I came here. He is really my favourite. I said it'd be tough for me to play without him.

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    In an update on Sunday, West Ham thanked the emergency services and first responders who attended the scene of Antonio's crash.

    Images of the badly damaged vehicle circulated on social media prior to confirmation that Antonio was in a stable condition in hospital.
     
    "It was really tough for us," Soucek added. "I was with the kids and I saw this information on the phone. I messaged everyone asking what happened and how he was.

    "I was so scared what was going to happen. It was a really tough week for him, his family and us. We had a video call with him, the whole team, before the game. 

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    "He is probably one of the best players West Ham have had. He will be soon with us. These things can happen, but hopefully he will be even better soon."

    West Ham's all-time leading Premier League goalscorer Antonio had featured in all 14 of West Ham's top-flight matches this season prior to the visit of Wolves.

    Soucek headed the hosts ahead nine minutes into the second half and Bowen netted West Ham's second after Matt Doherty had temporarily levelled.

    The win eases the pressure on head coach Julen Lopetegui, whose thoughts were also with Antonio at the full-time whistle.

    "We are happy, we dedicate the victory to Michail and his family," Lopetegui said. "It has been tough the last week, and the last days especially.

    "He deserves this. We love Michail a lot. He's a special person for us. I'm sure he'll overcome this bad moment and come back. The best thing we could do is get the victory."

  • West Ham 2-1 Wolves: Bowen gifts Lopetegui lifeline as pressure grows further on O'Neil West Ham 2-1 Wolves: Bowen gifts Lopetegui lifeline as pressure grows further on O'Neil

    West Ham beat Wolves 2-1 at the London Stadium to ease the pressure on head coach Julen Lopetegui and increase it on Gary O'Neil.

    Jarrod Bowen assisted one and scored the other to earn the hosts three valuable points in a game dubbed must win for both sides.

    Tomas Soucek headed in from Bowen's corner when left unmarked, only for Matt Doherty to cancel it out after Mohammed Kudus had a goal ruled out by VAR for offside.

    West Ham skipper Bowen then found the net with a cultured finish three minutes later, which he celebrated by holding aloft the shirt of stricken team-mate Michail Antonio.

    Defeat for Wolves leaves O'Neil under serious pressure with his side 19th in the Premier League, four points from safety, while West Ham stay 14th and are nine points from the drop.

    Data Debrief: Bowen leads the way

    Bowen put in a captain's performance for Lopetegui as he added to his assist by netting his sixth Premier League goal against Wolves – only Carlton Cole has scored more against a single opponent for West Ham in the competition (seven versus Fulham).

    The contest certainly livened up after a tepid opening 45 minutes, which is to be expected when Wolves are involved. Indeed, 61 goals have been scored across their 15 Premier League matches this season – only Manchester City (14 in 2011-12) have had 60-plus goals in fewer games in a single campaign.

    West Ham's win means they are now unbeaten in their past 17 Premier League home games against teams starting the day in the relegation zone in a run stretching back to December 2017.

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