West Ham’s U21 side secured their first three points of the new Premier League 2 season, picking up a 4-2 win away against Sunderland, as debutant Josh Landers netted twice.

The visitors made a rapid start, with Mohamadou Kante calmly finishing early on before Emeka Adiele pounced on a defensive error to double the Hammers advantage. Sunderland responded through Timur Tutierov before half time, but the Hammers quickly regained control of the game after the break when Josh Landers headed home Adiele’s cross.

It wasn’t long before the forward bagged his second of the game, finishing off a swift attacking move to make it 4-1. Late drama saw Sunderland awarded a penalty and West Ham reduced to ten men. Late in the game, Sunderland were given a penalty when the ball hit Ryan Oyebade on the line, with the referee controversially ruling it a handball.

In the confusion that followed, Preston Fearon was mistakenly shown red and sent off. Tutierov fired home the resulting spot kick from twelve yards, but the Hammers were able to see out the game and claim a well earned victory.

U21’s lead coach Mark Robson was pleased with the clinical edge shown by his side, highlighting the quality of their attacking play after half time, when speaking to the clubs Official Website: “In the second half, the boys raised their quality in the final third and got their rewards. We created more chances than we had in previous games, and it was pleasing to see us be that bit more clinical.” said Robson.

He was also keen to highlight the contribution from the entire squad: “It was really positive to see the whole group contributing and everyone playing their part.”