Ipswich 1-3 West Ham: Hammers finish off season with victory while Tractor Boys bid farewell to Premier League

Jarrod Bowen, too good for England. That was the cry from the West Ham fans at Portman Road who watched their captain produce another masterclass in a final-day victory over relegated Ipswich.

The Hammers skipper moved his wedding so it didn’t clash with England duty only for Thomas Tuchel to leave him out of the squad so Bowen responded by scoring a 20-yard stunner and setting up James Ward-Prowse’s opener to show what will be missed against Andorra and Senegal.

Bowen’s strike put West Ham back in front after Nathan Broadhead’s second-half equaliser before Mohammed Kudus made sure of the win with a fine finish.

What more could he have done? That’s now 13 Premier League goals for the season, six in his last eight games, ending the campaign as one of the most in-form players in the country.

Unsurprisingly, it was Bowen who looked most likely to make things happen at Portman Road. He exchanged a one-two with Ward-Prowse to force an early save from Ipswich keeper Christian Walton.

It was Bowen who then pounced on Sam Morsy’s blind back pass just before half-time and squared it to Ward-Prowse to slot home his first goal of the season.

Ipswich’s were unable to treat their fans to a victory on the final day of the league season

Kieran McKenna’s side will be returning to the Championship at the first time of asking

‘His performance sums him up as a person,’ said West Ham boss Graham Potter. ‘He’s disappointed but everything we did that was good came through him. Everyone in the stadium could feel that when he had the ball he had a sharpness about him. It says a lot.

‘It’s football so people make decisions but the only thing that Jarrod can do is react in a good way and he did that today.’

Ipswich have long had their fate confirmed but Broadhead at least gave the fans something to cheer about when he collected the ball midway inside the West Ham half, left Jean-Clair Todibo stuck in concrete, before unleashing a shot past Lukas Fabianski into the bottom corner.

‘At times we were the better team,’ said Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna. ‘We had more chances and it’s probably reflective of the challenges and the level we haven’t been able to hit. Top-end players in this division, they execute more often than ours.’

Hammers keeper Fabianski had been handed an emotional start for his final game for the club before leaving in the summer and had early been on hand to make a fine save to tip Broadhead’s earlier effort around the post.

But, like always, it was Bowen who saved the day for West Ham and Graham Potter when he picked the ball up on the right, cut inside and smashed his left-footed effort into the net to send the West Ham fans into full voice: ‘too good for England!’

It’s a result that at least gives Potter some reasons to be cheerful going into a huge summer rebuild, one that is likely to be funded by the sale of winger Kudus, who came off the bench to add a third.

Kudus, who has an £85million release clause, raced half the length of the pitch, exchanged passes with Guido Rodríguez, before curling his shot from just inside the box past the keeper.

After the final whistle, West Ham’s players applauded the travelling fans but an emotional Lucas Paqueta stood back from the group as he waved to the supporters. It remains unclear whether he will play again as he awaits the decision of his spot-fixing trial.