Marko Arnautovic scored just eleven seconds in the second half to trigger a wonderful away victory for West Ham that saw them leapfrog Huddersfield in the Premier League table.
Arnautovic flicked the ball over Terriers captain Tommy Smith and rifled home from kick off to make it 2-1 with some spectators still taking their seats.
For an encore the mercurial Austrian then set up front partner Manuel Lanzini to score twice more in the second half as the home defence disintegrated.
Manuel Lanzini scores his second and West Ham’s fourth goal to seal an emphatic win for the Hammers against Huddersfield
Lanzini celebrates after extending West Ham’s lead over Huddersfield to three goals after scoring his second of the game
Lanzini’s second sealed an emphatic 4-1 victory over Huddersfield to move West Ham up to 11th in the Premier League
MATCH FACTS, PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE, MATCH ZONE AND RATINGS
Huddersfield: Lossl, Smith, Jorgensen, Schindler, Malone, Hogg,Mooy, van La Parra, Ince, Lolley, Depoitre.
Subs: Kongolo,Sabiri, Coleman, Williams, Pritchard, Mounie, Hefele.
Booked: Smith
Goals: Lolley 40
Manager: David Wagner
West Ham: Adrian, Collins, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Zabaleta,Kouyate, Obiang, Noble, Masuaku, Lanzini, Arnautovic.
Subs: Hernandez, Ayew, Hart, Burke, Cullen, Rice.
Booked: Cresswell
Goals: Noble 25, Arnautovic 46, Lanzini 56 & 61
Manager: David Moyes
Referee: Jonathan Moss
Man of the match:
Attendance:
- Premier League
- Premier League
- Championship
- League One
- League Two
- Scottish Premiership
- Scottish Div 1
- Scottish Div 2
- Scottish Div 3
- Ligue 1
- Serie A
- La Liga
- Bundesliga
West Ham broke quickly for Manuel Lanzini to score their fourth goal of the game.
West Ham’s Mark Noble celebrates after opening the scoring against Huddersfield at the John Smith’s Stadium on Saturday
The Hammers captain scored in the 25th minute with a right-footed shot that beat Huddersfield goalkeeper Jonas Lossl
Noble was all smiles on Saturday afternoon as David Moyes’ side battered Huddersfield away from home to climb the table
Earlier, Huddersfield’s Joe Lolley had scored a fine equaliser after his mistake had allowed Mark Noble to break the deadlock midway through the first half.
David Moyes picked no recognised strikers in his starting line-up and only six substitutes as Andy Carroll was injured (ankle) and the West Ham manager preferred his youngsters to play for the under-23s on Friday night than travel to sit on the bench.
For the first 25 minutes, his unfamiliar front two of Arnautovic and Lanzini barely saw the ball as Huddersfield dominated possession in front of a full house that included former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Then, having been on the back foot, West Ham were able to take the lead with a gift.
West Ham’s Pablo Zabaleta and Huddersfield’s Rajiv van La Parra battle for the ball during the …. on Saturday afternoon
Joe Lolley of Huddersfield scores his sides first goal of the game to equalise against West Ham in the 40th minute
West Ham goalkeeper Adrian (centre) dives but fails to save Huddersfield’s equalising goal in the first-half of the game
Huddersfield goalkeeper Jonas Lossl passed out to Lolley but the recipient either wasn’t ready or technically embarrassed.
Pressed by Arnautovic, Lolley’s heavy first touch spilled into the path of Noble and the West Ham skipper unerringly fired into the top corner before taking the applause in front of the travelling fans.
Lolley and Lossl had a heated debate about who was to blame. But after Chris Schindler had headed wide from a corner, Lolley redeemed himself with a splendid equaliser in only his second Premier League start.
It followed a decent Huddersfield move started by Tom Ince. Aaron Mooy played the final pass to Lolley and he cut inside Noble before rifling in from the edge of the box.
In the dug-out, Moyes fumed and wondered why Richard Cresswell and Pedro Obiang hadn’t tried to close the Huddersfield down before he shot.
Lolley of Huddersfield runs to celebrate scoring the equaliser with his team-mates, which is his first league goal this season
Lolley was mobbed by his Huddersfield team-mates after levelling the score and was joined by the Terriers mascot
If the first-half was even, the second half was one-sided from the opening minute.
West Ham took the kick off and when they launched it forward, Cheikh Kouyate won his aerial duel to force the ball onto Arnautovic.
From then onwards it was brilliant from the Austrian, flicking the ball over Tommy Smith with his right foot before shooting past Lossl with his left. Up in the stands, Fergie probably had memories of Eric Cantona.
Once in front, West Ham capitalised with Arnautovic and Manuel Lanzini running rings round the Terriers defence.
Lanzini had tried a rabona instead of setting up Arnautovic but the Austrian was more generous after 56 minutes, playing in his team-mate who was kept onside by Smith.
Marko Arnautovic restored West Ham’s lead a minute after the break with a left-footed shot into the bottom left-hand corner
Arnautovic continued his fine form in front of goal against Huddersfield after suffering a difficult start to the season
Arnautovic celebrates after scoring West Ham’s second goal of the game against Huddersfield on Saturday afternoon
Lanzini had little difficulty in beating Lossl and five minutes later the same player had made it 4-1, Arnautovic again the provider by driving into the box and taking two defenders with him before the ball bounced into the Argentine’s path.
The lead could have been even greater without Mooy kicking off the line from Kouyate as Huddersfield collapsed.
David Wagner sent on £12million signing from Norwich Alex Pritchard on for his debut midway through the second half but by that stage even Lionel Messi would have been unable to prevent an away win.
To his credit, Pritchard tested Adrian with a cracking effort that Pablo Zabaleta cleared.
The game was done though and Arnautovic deservedly got a standing ovation when he was replaced late on.
Manuel Lanzini scores West Ham’s third goal past Lossl to put them two goals ahead of David Wagner’s Huddersfield
Lanzini celebrates after scoring his first goal with team-mates Noble and Aaron Cresswell during West Ham’s 4-1 win