On the first day of rainy weather in England for what seemed like months, West Ham United turned up to fortress Turf Moor and convincingly took home all three points against Burnley to keep their Champions League charge very much intact on the slippy surfaces of East Lancashire
Burnley went into this drab-weathered affair unsurprisingly unchanged from their scintillating 4-0 demolition of Wolves last weekend; Chris Wood was chosen to lead the line alongside Matej Vydra, which was a formality following the Kiwi's first half hat-trick in the Black Country.
David Moyes was forced into a catalogue of changes for the Irons' in their trip to East Lancashire; Craig Dawson returned from his one-match ban which he picked up in the away loss at Newcastle, and although Fabian Balbuena was available following his rescinded red card in the London derby against Chelsea, he wasn't picked to start. Elsewhere, Aaron Cresswell and talisman Michail Antonio returned from injury, with Mark Noble out on the treatment table.
The Clarets' initial approach saw them take the front foot in the opening knockings of the game. Fresh from the vigorous dismantling of Wolves, Sean Dyche's instructions were most likely a simple 'carry on from where you left off'; although this was enhanced by West Ham's laissez-faire approach, with the Hammers' showing a performance which showed a serious lack of tempo.
Despite this, the first real chance fell to the away side. A direct ball down the left channel was latched onto by Antonio, and with the Hammers outnumbering the Burnley defence, you would have expected the free-scoring side from the Capital to capitalise; however, James Tarkowski was equal to the challenge to stop the former Nottingham Forest player in his tracks.
Instead, the Clarets' took advantage of their early pressure and were rewarded again by the on-fire Wood. A ball was released into his favoured right-channel by Ashley Westwood, and after he initially lost the ball, a sublime flick over the hapless Issa Diop resulted in Tomas Soucek bringing him down, with referee Anthony Taylor not hesitating to point to the spot.
The New Zealander picked himself up to bury the ball past Lukasz Fabianski; making it six penalties from six in the Premier League for Wood, and a spectacular involvement in Burnley's last eight goals.
It didn't count for much though. Just moments after going behind, West Ham pulled themselves back into it. A lapse in concentration from the Clarets' gave Vladimir Coufal acres of space down the right-hand flank, and his delightful ball in was pinpoint into the gap between James Tarkowski and Matthew Lowton, who both left the returning striker unmarked to head home the Hammers' instant equaliser.
And Antonio was the spark for their European dreams to continue following another poacher's finish just eight minutes later. An overload down West Ham's left-hand side found a seismic pocket of space - in which Matthew Lowton was absent from - and a dangerously whipped ball from Said Benrahma evaded everyone but Antonio, who gleefully accepted the Algerian's invitation to flick the ball past the helpless Nick Pope to turn the game on its head in the matter of moments.
It was almost three moments later as West Ham had now found their groove and every time they ventured forward, they looked like punishing the home side. They almost did when the lively Benrahma was fed the ball on the edge of the 18-yard box; after working the ball onto his favoured right foot, he bent a shot just wide of the right post which had Nick Pope scrambling.
Burnley were in serious danger of permanently relinquishing the lead they had worked ever so hard for, yet thrown away in the space of ten minutes; they needed something to change.
Matej Vydra almost forced that to happen; another looping ball into the channel allowed the Czech international to get past Issa Diop, and after lobbing the onrushing Fabianski, it appeared to be level pegging once again, however Craig Dawson was in the right place at the right time to keep his side in the lead at the break.
Moyes' side should have increased their lead further just a couple of moments after the break. Ben Mee wrongly lunged in at Jesse Lingard and missed the ball, leaving the Manchester United loanee to drive at the defence.
However, after sliding Michail Antonio in with a reverse pass, the Englishman couldn't convert his well-deserved hat-trick to leave Burnley still in with a chance of levelling the tie.
At times, it felt as though it may not have been Antonio's night; none more so than the 55th minute chance he spurned. With Vladmir Coufal's crossing smothering Burnley into their half for what seemed like an eternity, the ball was worked to Pablo Fornals, whose cross-shot landed at the feet of an unmarked Antonio.
After the two chances he had already tucked away, it was almost an inevitability that Antonio was to make it his hat-trick from three yards out, but his strike hit his standing foot, allowing James Tarkowski to clear.
It was then Burnley's chance to miss a sitter. After a floating Dwight McNeil cross into the box was bundled out by the Hammers, Josh Brownhill's stinging volley was palmed out by the ever reliable Fabianski, albeit straight into the path of newly-entered substitute Jay Rodriguez.
However, the Burnley-born man had his dream entrance denied; his initial shot was blocked, and with his second bite at the cherry occurring in the form of an open-goal, he placed it astonishingly wide.
The game slowly petered out as David Moyes' side became reminiscent of the steeliness that he displayed in his time as Everton manager; West Ham's counter attacking became a lot less frequent, with their attacks not resulting in much - although Burnley didn't threaten at all despite the scoreline thrusting them into panic.
Anthony Taylor became card happy towards the end, with three players being cautioned in three minutes as things came to a stop-start affair, and with only three minutes being shown on the fourth officials board, it was too little too late for Burnley.
Even with Nick Pope's presence in the West Ham area late on, it was absolute glee for West Ham, who won for the first time in three games to leave them still only three points off the Champions League spots.