LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - West Ham United's Jarrod Bowen wrote himself into the club's history books while inspiring a rampant first-half display as they secured a vital 3-1 home victory over Sunderland on Saturday to inch closer to the Premier League safety zone.
West Ham have won their last three matches in all competitions, including 2-1 wins over Queens Park Rangers in the FA Cup and Tottenham Hotspur in the league.
They are 18th with 20 points from 23 games, two behind Nottingham Forest, who travel to Brentford on Sunday. Sunderland are ninth on 33 points, three points off the top four.
"The message before the game was just keep building on what we've been doing," Bowen told Premier League Productions.
"Winning any football game gives you confidence and doing that against QPR then going to Tottenham, we felt like we were in a good place."
The hosts took the lead at London Stadium in the 14th minute when Bowen's lofted cross into Sunderland's penalty area was headed home by Crysencio Summerville.
Bowen doubled West Ham's advantage after converting a spot kick following Trai Hume's foul on Ollie Scarles, with Mateus Fernandes adding a third just before halftime with a brilliant strike from long range.
His assist for the opener allowed Bowen to overtake Michail Antonio for most goal involvements (103) for West Ham in the Premier League, with the England international having recorded 63 goals and 40 assists for the East London club.
"For me the most important thing is the team and helping getting out of the situation that we're in," Bowen added.
"I really care about goals and assists but, yeah, probably when I retire I'll sit down and look at the milestones."
Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka was ruled out of the clash due to an ankle injury and the club sorely missed his presence in midfield.
The visitors netted a consolation goal in the 66th minute as the West Ham defence momentarily went to sleep and Brian Brobbey was able to get on the end of a first-time cross from Nordi Mukiele.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
