West Ham United moved out of the Premier League’s relegation zone on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Everton at the London Stadium.
In what was David Moyes’ first league win in just under three months, two first half goals from Jarrod Bowen took them out of the bottom three and up to 15th to alleviate pressure on the future of the Hammers boss.
As West Ham picked up a vital win over Moyes’ former club and one of their relegation-threatened rivals, here are five of the major talking points from the London Stadium.
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Back to winning ways
Not since their meeting with Bournemouth on October 24 had West Ham recorded a Premier League victory until beating Everton on Saturday afternoon.
Going into the game, both Moyes and the Toffees' manager Frank Lampard were under serious pressure, with many labelling the clash as a ‘loser gets sacked’ affair ahead of kick-off.
With that unwanted tagline to it, both sides did little to threaten early on in a rather drab affair. Everton thought they were entitled to an early penalty when Angelo Ogbonna blocked an Alex Iwobi cross, with the visiting players wanting a spot-kick for handball. Replays showed it came off Ogbonna’s shoulder, a lucky reprieve.
A shot out of nothing from distance from Said Benrahma around 30 minutes in soon changed things, with West Ham ending the first half in a very commanding fashion.
After a training ground corner routine was half cleared, Emerson’s cross into the box was flicked on by the returning Kurt Zouma, minutes after he had seemingly suffered a hamstring issue. Bowen raced onto it and fired home from close range, but many inside the ground expected it to be ruled out for offside.
Those fears were alleviated after a lengthy VAR check. Bowen’s goal was his first since the October home win over Anderlecht, ending a 13-match wait. He celebrated with a message to honour his recent personal news, that he and partner Dani Dyer are expecting twins, not the only double Bowen was about to get.
Emerson looked to turn provider again just minutes later when a back post cross found Michail Antonio unmarked. To everyone’s surprise, Antonio headed across goal when it seemed easier to at least find the target, although he would make amends shortly after. Racing down the right flank, Antonio got past James Tarkowski and raced to the byline before crossing inside to find Bowen, who after going 99 days without a goal, had two to his name in seven minutes.
There was the fear that West Ham would not take a two-goal lead into the break shortly before half-time, Iwobi again the live-wire, volleying at the end of a Declan Rice header which collided off the outside of the post and wide.
In the second half, Everton tried to ask questions of West Ham at the back with multiple balls into the box, but the back three of Zouma, Ogbonna and Nayef Aguerd met all of them, totalling 35 clearances in the game between them. Everton made just 12 as a side.
For all of their pressure, though, chances were little to non-existent. Idriss Gueye’s effort from distance was the only save Lukasz Fabianski had to make all game. Iwobi forced him into action with a cross, while another breezed past Dominic Calvert-Lewin on the stretch.
West Ham meanwhile were not short of chances themselves. After combining well with Benrahma, Emerson got down the left wing and fired a shot on goal, which Pickford tipped onto the bar before going out. Aguerd almost got a first goal in England too, heading over at a corner.
Rice then had once late chance to make it 3-0 off the back of Benrahma’s flair, striding down the left and narrowly shooting across goal, despite having the chance to tee up Bowen for a maiden career hat-trick.
For West Ham, it took them up to 15th, although they could drop down to 17th depending on how Leeds United and Wolverhampton Wanderers get on in their games on Sunday, but the Hammers will definitely not be back in the bottom three until next month.
The focus now is on making the most of this momentum, with a tough league run to come against Newcastle United, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur to come, the hope is that they can pick up some points between now and the home clash with Nottingham Forest in five weeks.
The Brentford repeat
West Ham switched to the 3-4-3 formation that saw Tomas Soucek dropped in their final match of 2022 against Brentford, ending in a 2-0 defeat.
Despite the frustrating result, Moyes repeatedly praised his players for their performance in that game, with Saturday’s win over Everton seeing them name a near-identical side to the one beaten on December 30.
There have been a few switches to back three formations at times this season, more so in the last couple of months with the hunt for getting the best of this West Ham side ongoing.
With a back three formation, their last two uses of it have come in wins, against Everton and beating Brentford in the FA Cup, albeit with a rotated side in the latter. Knowing it has worked, it may be worth sticking to it to boost their side’s chances of putting together a run of form.
Kurt Zouma’s return highlights the future at the back
On Saturday night, the Hammers agreed a £3.3million deal with Wolverhampton Wanderers for the Old Gold to sign centre-back Craig Dawson, with the 32-year-old’s move potentially being completed as early as Sunday.
Against Everton however, West Ham proved that there is a way of success at the back without the veteran.
On his first game back after missing five matches due to having knee surgery, Zouma partnered Ogbonna and Aguerd in the back three and despite some shaky first half moments, the trio kept a clean sheet and played a big role in the victory.
Not only with their defensive work, making 35 clearances between them, but they contributed going forward too. Aguerd expressed a good range of passing, while Zouma’s flick-on led to the first goal.
It took 20 games, but for the first time this season, Moyes got his wish of playing Zouma and Aguerd in the same starting side and it led to a return of shoring up their defence.
There is no question over Dawson’s importance during his two-and-a-half years at the club, but the display at the back against Everton showed that West Ham do have a way of being steady at the back without Dawson.
Jarrod Bowen’s importance
After 99 days without a goal, two in seven first half minutes from Bowen showed the four-time England international back at his best.
In recent weeks, while Bowen has not been scoring, he has been making positive contributions, winning penalties in trips to Arsenal and Leeds United since the season restarted on Boxing Day.
Bowen, last season’s top scorer, went level with Gianluca Scamacca with his double against the Toffees with seven in all competitions. His four in the league, all at the London Stadium, make him the club’s top scorer in England’s top-flight.
It was his first brace since May’s draw with Manchester City, his 14th in his career. Really though, he could have had a hat-trick, with a few half chances in the second half.
The two goals he took were both from close range, but they were instinctive and clinical, what Bowen did best last season and what got him his big money move from Hull City three years ago.
Now, he has to kick on. Bowen has a knack of going on scoring runs, as he did at the start of October. West Ham certainly could do with him back at his best right now in their hunt to move away from the relegation zone.
Emerson contributing
The return to 3-4-3 saw Emerson come back into the side and it was probably the former Chelsea defender’s best outing in a West Ham shirt so far.
The Italian international played a role in the first goal, with his cross eventually finding its way to Bowen following a Zouma flick-on and a deflection.
Shortly after, Emerson’s cross gave Antonio a golden chance to make it 2-0, only for Antonio to steer across goal and wide.
Emerson came close to a goal of his own to make it 3-0 in the second half, playing a give and go with Benrahma before firing a shot on a goal, tipped well onto the bar by Pickford.
The wing-back system allows Emerson and Vladimir Coufal to get forward and make things happen, as well as permitting Bowen and Benrahma to become bigger threats centrally.
With Emerson showing what he can do going forward, sticking to the back three could be the best way forward for Moyes’ men.
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