Moyes Denied Ideal Birthday Present from Old Club
West Ham United are getting pretty used to life outside the relegation zone. They are still in with a chance of retaining their Premier League status, following a 2-1 home victory over Everton on Saturday afternoon. it was the first time that David Moyes’ had returned to Stratford since his second spell at the Hammers’ helm ended back in May 2024.
There was no change in the matchday squad named by current Head-Coach Nuno Espírito Santo from the goalless draw against Crystal Palace five days ago. Tomáš Souček retained his place in midfield, meaning he was able to make his 200th top-flight start for the club.
It was a cagey first-half as it was in the eventual 4-0 triumph over rock bottom Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Both sides spent large parts of the half sizing each other up. Crysencio Summerville played captain Jarrod Bowen in twice. However, as he released the ball Vitalii Mykolenko managed to block.
After West Ham had let that particular opportunity pass them by, Mateus Fernandes got in on the act but Thierno Barry was in the way of his shot and got a vital touch to stop the ball beating Jordan Pickford.
When Bowen tried again, he unfortunately couldn’t find a teammate to turn it goalwards.
Mads Hermansen was tested ten minutes before half-time. Barry came closer than anyone to breaking the deadlock but fortunately, his effort was easy for the Dane to hold onto.
Dwight McNeil then combined to good effect with Barry but fortunately for the home faithful, the Frenchman wasted the chance as the youngster acrobatically sent a cross from the former Burnley player wide, before the spell of pressure ended when Iliman Ndiaye also saw his shot blocked by El Hadji Malick Diouf.
Although there was no change in the scoreline, the majority inside the stadium seemed pleased with the endeavour that their team were showing, as referee Stuart Attwell blew for half-time.
No more than a minute of the second-half had passed before visiting skipper James Tarkowski was the latest Everton player to be given a booking for fouling Summerville.
The same players emerged from the dressing rooms for West Ham but whatever the Head-Coach said to his team during the break seemed to give them an extra boost, as they stepped up their intensity levels. This was evident when Valentín Castellanos forced Pickford into a save.
The pair were at the centre of the next move too when the large home support thought they should have been awarded a penalty when Pickford brought down the Argentine but, Attwell gave nothing and after consultation with the VAR officials, play was allowed to resume.
However, from the resulting corner, the former Sunderland stopper was beaten. Bowen delivered into the box and Souček sent a bullet of a header into the net, leaving Pickford helpless. It was fair to say that the relief was collectively felt amongst the home fans at that moment.
Another penalty was called for by the majority when Bowen went down. VAR again intervened but came to the same conclusion as they did with the incident involving Castellanos. It later came to light that Bowen had actually caught Jake O’Brien, as the Irishman went to shoot.
Shortly after, O’Brien was taken off by Moyes as Tim Iroegbunam and Tyrique George were introduced as part of a double change. McNeil also made way.
The pair quickly settled into the action and with one of his first touches, Iroegbunam created a shooting opportunity but fortunately got his angles all wrong. The youngster was perhaps unlucky to see his cross cleared by Axel Disasi.
It took them time, but the visitors were slowly finding their rhythm. Barry’s header was somehow kept out with the help of Souček, before Iroegbunam went close again but fortunately for the Irons, Disasi was in the way once more
With the momentum of the game changing, Espírito Santo decided to make his first substitution, with Freddie Potts replacing Castellanos and within two minutes the Portuguese shuffled his pack again, as Callum Wilson came on for Pablo Felipe.
Whilst bringing fresh legs on, the man who faced the Toffees on Merseyside in his first game in charge also altered his tactics and switched to one up top for the final few minutes.
Fernandes could have handed Everton the chance to score from the spot but fortunately Attwell, together with the team at Stockley Park decided against giving the decision.
Minutes later however, the visitors did make their dominant spell pay, as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall equalised when he fired an unstoppable shot past Hermansen.
As if that didn’t rock the West Ham crowd enough, it looked as if they would be dumped back into the bottom three as Tottenham Hotspur went in front away at Molineux.
That incident meant one more goal was needed here. It is not just West Ham that Wilson likes to score against as he also has an impressive record against the Merseysiders. Soon after it was announced that the match would last for at least another eight minutes, Wilson came up with another goal to add to his impressive tally. Although Tarkowski had stationed himself on the goal-line to try to repel anything that came towards goal, great combination play from both Diouf and Bowen set the striker up and he managed to find space to slot past Pickford to the delight of the ever-loyal fan base.
The survival bid continues for the Hammers, as they go to The Gtech Community Stadium next on Saturday afternoon hoping to take something from Brentford