The London bus puns almost write themselves. After Lucas Paqueta West Ham United went a whole year without successive Premier League wins at the London Stadium, two arrived in the space of six days against Newcastle and Burnley.
Nuno Espirito Santo got off the mark at the fifth time of asking a week ago.
Now, Burnley at home is one of those games managers tend to circle on the calendar and mark down as a ‘must win’. Of course, West Ham United’s second successive home triumph only leaves them three points better off than they were on Friday.
A ‘six-pointer’ in metaphor but not in reality.
West Ham needed to beat Burnley by four goals if they were to escape the relegation zone. Thanks to a late blunder from an otherwise excellent Alphonse Areola, their goal difference grew by just one.
But on a day when supersub Tomas Soucek lit up the London Stadium with another game-changing cameo which – the Czech captain further burnishes his Hammers icon – the groans and moans which had become the soundtrack to their worst start in 52 years were again transformed into sighs of relief and cheers of pure jubilation.
Though Lucas Paqueta did his very best to test the patience of an already brittle fanbase as he dipped his hand into his bag of tricks and found it empty.
Lucas Paqueta and Callum Wilson celebrate during West Ham United v Burnley - Premier League
Photo by Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
Lucas Paqueta frustrated the West Ham United fans in Burnley win
The yelps of derision which followed Paqueta’s most needless loss of possession, shortly after Zian Flemming had climbed above Max Kilman to head Burnley in front, had a real Graham Potter-era, end-of-days feel.
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The London Stadium is an arena where frustration from the terraces can occasionally spill over onto the pitch. Dejection spreading like plague.
Had Callum Wilson not popped up to head in an equaliser on the stroke of half-time, the cheers which accompanied that Newcastle win six days earlier could conceivably have made way for boos again.
Paqueta gifting the ball back to an already dominant Burnley outfit with a silly and ineffective backheel, with West Ham 1-0 down at home to a relegation rival; that felt like a potential Menthos-meet-Pepsi moment in a stadium always on the verge of an eruption.
Nuno Espirito Santo ‘very happy’ as Paqueta sets up Tomas Soucek strike
Fortunately, by the time Paqueta had the home support groaning again on 55 minutes, another ill-advised flick and another loss of possession, West Ham were in the ascendency.
Furthermore, it should be said that the enigmatic playmaker did at least show the character to go win the ball back on this occasion.
And, when Paqueta’s shot was fumbled by Burnley goalkeeper Martin Dubravka into the path of an onrushing Tomas Soucek, all that earlier frustration was quickly forgotten.
“Very, very happy. I am happy for the boys and our fans. This was a massive game for us,” said Nuno, whose win rate has climbed from zero percent to 33 per cent in the space of a week.
“The goal we conceded [through Flemming], the reaction was good. We have proved we want to change things, we want to be strong characters. The boys on the pitch are showing this slowly.
“All the squad will be needed, the boys coming on understand what is needed. It doesn’t matter who puts it in, as long as it goes. And we needed it. The midfielders work hard and they are complementing each other. In the middle of the park we have a lot of good options and the boys are doing really well.
“Arriving to the Premier League for any player is really difficult. We have a lot of players who we need to be patient with.
“I think it’s a small step, Another day where we have achieved something at London Stadium which means a lot. But we will not get carried away.”