West Ham 2 Sheff Utd 0: Hammers quietly move into European places with comfortable win with Blades rock bottom of table

ON David Moyes’ 666th Premier League managerial outing, it was another hellish weekend for Sheffield United.

Fresh off the back of an 8-0 record-breaking defeat at home to Newcastle, Blades boss Paul Heckingbottom’s hot seat was hotter than usual heading to East London.

Those devilish flames are close to engulfing him now. Another woeful display and another painful loss thanks to first-half strikes from West Ham duo Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek.

Heckingbottom insists he has the support of owner Prince Abdullah and chief executive Stephen Bettis, but how long can this winless run go on for?

Barring a miraculous turnaround, after just seven Prem games, relegation is already starting the South Yorkshire club square in the face. They aren’t even putting up a fight.

Hammers chief Moyes is not a superstitious man, so even with ominous game number 666 looming over him, the Scot went for an unchanged line-up from their recent defeats against Manchester City and Liverpool.

The result? A solid, efficient performance that gets the Irons back to winning ways, not that they needed to get out of second gear to dispatch Heckingbottom’s sorry lot.

Eager to face their demons head-on, Sheffield United lined up with just one switch from their embarrassing Toon clash – Oli McBurnie returning from suspension for Oliver Norwood in a bid to pose more of an attacking threat in the capital.

Unsurprisingly, that plan did not pan out.

The hosts took control from kick-off and did not relinquish it, starting with a dangerous corner from set-piece specialist James Ward-Prowse after 30 seconds.

Nerves were jangling at the back for the visitors inside the first five minutes, Bowen snatching a ball too easily off James McAtee only for Soucek to blaze over his pull-back.

Before this one, Sheffield United had faced 136 shots in their opening six Prem games, the second-most by a team on record. That tally continued to rise.

Bowen’s header from another Ward-Prowse corner was palmed away by Wes Foderingham before Luke Thomas cleared Nayef Aguerd’s rebound attempt off the line.

Sheffield United’s Cameron Archer had his side’s first and only big chance of the half, denied by a superb Aguerd block, only for Bowen to burst that small bubble of hope in the 24th minute.

Lovely link-up play between Edson Alvarez, Soucek and Bowen sent Vladimir Coufal away down the right. His pick-out for Bowen was expertly slotted into the far bottom corner.

A third successive Prem assist for Coufal – having notched just one last season – and a fifth Prem goal for Bowen. It took him until April last campaign to meet that figure.

An England recall is perhaps on the cards for the former Hull forward, with Gareth Southgate choosing his next squad next Thursday, yet there remains serious competition in his position.

The onslaught continued, with the Blades struggling to throw a punch in retaliation. VAR checked a potential handball on Thomas for a handball that would have been very harsh.

Michail Antonio broke clear, making the most of Heckingbottom’s non-existent midfield, but blazed wide despite having two good options either side of him.

And then, the nail in the coffin, after 37 minutes. Gustavo Hamer’s wretched pass from deep intercepted by Emerson, and this time, Antonio picked the right pass to Soucek.

The Czech international wrong-footed Foderingham. Sheffield United heads dropped, as did Heckingbottom’s.

While Newcastle went for the kill at Bramall Lane, West Ham were content in the second half to slip it into neutral and coast to a comfortable, heavenly three points.

Sheffield United created some half-chances, out of desperation more than anything.

In truth, it looks right now like hell could freeze over before the Blades earn a first Premier League win.