Jarrod Bowen stars with hat-trick but stats show West Ham teammate Lucas Paqueta is David Moyes' MVP

27/02/2024 01:27

Jarrod Bowen may have scored an excellent hat-trick for West Ham but it was the return of Lucas Paqueta which really made them tick.

The Hammers cruised to a 4-2 victory over fellow London side Brentford to seal their first Premier League win since December.

Bowen scored two goals in the opening seven minutes to kick off the proceedings, with his third coming just before the hour mark.

It’s the first time 27-year-old has scored a hat-trick in his career and he is now sitting on 17 goals for the season in all competitions.

Although Bowen is clearly key to West Ham’s efforts in attack, one stat proves that Paqueta is just as, if not more crucial to the side.

West Ham have won 11 of the 19 Premier League games he has started this season, a win percentage of 58 per cent.

In comparison, they have failed to win in all seven of the matches he has not started in, demonstrating how vital he is to their success.

Paqueta played his first match since returning from a calf injury and David Moyes was quick to praise his impact in their much-needed win.

Speaking to talkSPORT, Moyes said: “We’ve had him out since I think early December or January whenever it was, the first FA Cup tie so we’ve really missed him.

“His ability to make things happen and do things, he does a lot of things for the team as well so really important.

“I thought he played well tonight as well but as you could see we were running out of legs probably after about 70 minutes, Lucas maybe a wee bit before that so he done a great job.”

West Ham got themselves into a commanding lead with two quickfire Bowen goals, although Neal Maupay netted to make it 2-1 after just 13 minutes.

Bowen’s third of the night has taken him to 14 in the Premier League this season, the third highest tally along with Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke and Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins.

Emerson scored a screamer for West Ham’s fourth before Yoane Wissa netted a late consolation to reduce the deficit for Brentford.

Moyes’ side have risen to eighth in the league, whereas the Bees have fallen to their tenth league defeat in 12 matches and five points above the relegation zone.