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Scott Parker channelled the spirit of Manuel Lanzini as West Ham United clawed back a three-goal deficit for the first time in five years during Wednesday’s extraordinary comeback at Cardiff City.
Brian Barry-Murphy’s superb home side roared into a 3-0 lead inside 39 minutes when Jack Moylan lashed a lethal hat-trick past Mads Hermansen, giving new boss Scott Parker a truly nightmarish start to life in the Hammers dugout.
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But, inspired by some mesmerising creativity from captain Jarrod Bowen, West Ham United bounced back in a devastating second-half in South Wales.
Divine Mukasa beat former Hammers goalkeeper Nathan Trott with an equisite chip from a lofted Bowen pass. Arne Engels then scored his first goal since that £22 million move from Celtic, converting cooly after half-time substitute Joel Piroe sent him away.
And Bowen would take his tally of assists to eight when his wicked cross was finished off by the most unlikely of sources; Max Kilman nipped in ahead of Trott to level the game in the 82nd minute.
This marked the first time West Ham fought back from a three goal deficit since Manuel Lanzini’s iconic strike lathered the icing on a six-goal thriller at Tottenham in October 2020. Nine years before that, Demba Ba scored twice as Avram Grant’s soon-to-be relegated outfit salvaged a point at The Hawthorns despite finding themselves 3-0 down at the break.