Joel Piroe blasted for 'wild' moment in West Ham win vs Wrexham
Leeds United loanee Joel Piroe had one early moment to forget in West Ham's 6-0 win against Wrexham.
Piroe is Nuno Espirito Santo's preferred option to lead the line in his side.
He was given the nod against the Welsh side at the London Stadium on Frida night as the Hammers won again to go top of the Championship.
Piroe had notched two goals in the league for the Irons so far since joining from the Elland Road side before the E20 clash.
He had opportunities to do against Phil Parkinson's side, and found the target in the 37th minute for the second goal.
That should have been his second goal, but the Dutchman could not convert an earlier chance to open the scoring.
What was said about West Ham star Joel Piroe?
A wonderful team move meant that the hosts had an overload heading towards the Wrexham box in the 27th minute.
Jarrod Bowen eventually laid the ball off to Piroe and all he had to do was find the net.
However, his effort was straight at Anthony Patterson, which Sky Sports commentator Don Goodman couldn't believe.
Speaking on the live broadcast (8:27 pm), he said: “Piroe there - you’d have backed him to at least force Anthony Patterson into a save. It's wild - he just goes to take the skin off the ball and loses control.”
Luckily for Piroe, he managed to get on the scoresheet just 10 minutes later, so the embarrassing miss will be forgotten about.
Why Piroe will be crucial to West Ham's promotion hopes
Piroe and Bowen will be the men to get the Hammers out of the second tier - it is as simple as that.
If he can continue to score regularly, he could win the Championship top goalscorer award again.
He achieved that feat in the 2024-25 season, when Leeds were promoted back to the top flight.
That will be his aim for the current campaign, and then he will hope to earn a permanent move and show that he can cut it at the highest level.
To get that opportunity, he needs to continue his current vein of form for Nuno's side and keep coming up with the goods.
It is vital that he carries on scoring, because it means that when the likes of Bowen and Manor Solomon have a drought, he is still producing.
West Ham brought him in to make the difference, and so far it is working quite well for all parties.