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As Taty Castellanos doubled his Premier League tally as a West Ham United player in the blink of an eye, Wolves now have something in common with Juventus and Real Madrid.
The Hammers tamed the beasts of Wolverhampton on a night of many eye-catching statistics.
Konstantinos Mavropanos became the first since James Collins in 2013 to score a brace from centre-half. West Ham United recorded a 4-0 home win for the first time since Danny Ings put Nottingham Forest to the sword three years ago.
Mads Hermansen equalled Lukasz Fabianski’s feat of five clean sheets in ten games, ending a half-decade-long hoodoo in the process.
Taty on a Premier League podium! 🥉 🇦🇷
Is he justifying his £27m price-tag now?
And as Taty Castellanos beat Jose Sa twice in the space of 99 seconds, the Hammers striker joined Sadio Mane and Gabriel Martinelli on the podium. The third-fastest brace in recorded Premier League history.
In doing so, Wolves unwittingly joined European A-listers Real Madrid and Juventus as some of the only clubs Castellanos has scored a brace against.
Taty Castellanos fires West Ham United past Wolves
On what was his greatest night in the professional game, Castellanos ripped Real Madrid apart single handedly at Girona’s Estadi Montilivi. Four goals in 50 remarkable minutes.
He is one of only four players to net a hat-trick against Los Blancos in the 21st century; alongside Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi [predictably] and former Hammers loanee Carlos Soler. Less predictably.
Castellanos’ bittersweet brace against Juventus in 2024 would be rendered moot by a late Arkadiusz Milik strike, shoving the Bianconeri into the Coppa Italia final at Lazio’s expense. Still, a semi-final double just one year after he joined Messi and Suarez in the La Liga history books enhanced Castellanos’ reputation as a man for the big occasion.
Rock-bottom Wolves, obviously, do not belong in the same category of opposition. But just try telling the West Ham supporters biting their nails before kick-off on Friday night that this was not a ‘big occasion’.
Nuno Espirito Santo hopes big London Stadium win will spark a ‘Great Escape’
Arguably the Hammers’ most important match of the entire season. And potentially the win which makes a ‘Great Escape’ to rival that of 2007’s a reality.
How impressed were you? 🤔
Credit: Getty Images/Rob Newell – CameraSport
“I think all of us deserve a night like this, especially our fans,” said a relieved Nuno, West Ham leapfrogging Tottenham into 17th while going level on points with Nottingham Forest ahead of tricky encounters with Sunderland and Aston Villa respectively.
“The London Stadium is going to be key for us, so we cannot thank them enough.
“Today, everything was positive. We killed the game in a couple of minutes [through Castellanos’ quickfire double].
“[The fans] deserve it, and I just ask them for the support because everything changes on the energy of the boys when this noise comes from the stands.”
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