Burnley make Moyes suffer
WHAT a difference a week made for West Ham. Back at the London Stadium seven days after the rousing victory over Chelsea that seemingly gave their survival bid lift-off, they failed to hit the same heights against Burnley. Inspired and fired-up against their London rivals, they were significantly flatter this time, failing to make their big moments count. This loss, on the back of blowing the lead twice in a 2-2 draw at Newcastle, means they remain far too close to the bottom three for comfort. Moyes, whose side face Norwich on Saturday, said: ‘I’m disappointed we didn’t take something. This was a must-win and Newcastle was a must-win. We have been in that situation for a while, probably since I took the job.’ While West Ham, four points above the bottom three, continue to look over their shoulder, Burnley are still in the running for Europe. Jay Rodriguez produced the game’s decisive moment with a perfectly-placed first-half header, though Burnley were also indebted to a rock-solid rearguard and in particular goalkeeper Nick Pope. Manager Sean Dyche said: ‘Nick’s a top keeper. He was outstanding and so were the entire back five.’ Depleted they may have been, missing Ben Mee, Jack Cork and Ashley Barnes among others, but Burnley posed most of the early threat, going close through Erik Pieters and Matej Vydra. West Ham, though, livened up after the first drinks break. Michail Antonio threatened twice either side of Tomas Soucek testing Pope with a close-range flying volley and the half ended with Antonio hitting Pope’s post before the goalkeeper denied Andriy Yarmolenko. But before those last two attempts Rodriguez headed in from Charlie Taylor’s cross, his 10th goal of the season and 50th for the club. Burnley defended with real determination throughout, though stand-in skipper James Tarkowski appeared to overstep the mark, escaping with just a yellow for thigh-high challenge on Jarrod Bowen. Moyes said: ‘It’s a red card. It’s not going to change anything but it might have done during the game.’ Moyes turned to substitute Sebastian Haller with 28 minutes to go but sadly, when presented with a golden chance with his first touch, the outcome summed up his campaign and Pope’s performance — Haller’s finish was unconvincing and Pope stuck out a boot to divert West Ham’s best chance of an equaliser wide. WEST HAM UNITED (4-2-3-1): Fabianski 6; Fredericks 6, Diop 6, Ogbonna 6, Cresswell 6; Rice 5.5, Soucek 7; Yarmolenko 6 (Haller 62min, 5), Bowen 6, Fornals 5 (Ajeti 86); Antonio 7. Subs not used: Randolph, Johnson, Balbuena, Masuaku, Noble, Lanzini, Wilshere. Booked: Fredericks. Manager: David Moyes 5. BURNLEY (4-4-2): POPE 9; Bardsley 8, Long 8, Tarkowski 8, Taylor 8; Pieters 7, Westwood 7.5, Brownhill 7.5, McNeil 7.5; Vydra 6.5 (Wood 58, 6), Rodriguez 7.5. Subs not used: Peacock-Farrell, Gudmundsson, Brady, Thompson, Dunne, Benson, Goodridge, Glennon. Scorer: Rodriguez 38. Booked: Tarkowski. Manager: Sean Dyche 7.5. Referee: Michael Oliver 7.