WEST HAM...... 1 S’LAND........... 0
Miserable Moyesie can’t buy a point
WINSTON REID turned a horror story into a happy ending.
But, boy, it was close. The Kiwi hardman struck in the fourth minute of added time to turn boos into cheers.
You could only feel for Sunderland. They arrived with two points, without a win and manager David Moyes (below) under threat.
They almost left West Ham fans shaking heads and wondering if their new stadium was fast become a torture chamber.
They thought they had seen a light in the tunnel following last week’s win at Palace. It turned out to be just another train coming towards them until Reid struck.
Chelsea arrive on Wednesday but West Ham will need to improve vastly to take on their London rivals.
They should have won at a canter after a breezy start but in the end they had their fans again biting nails.
Fear of losing yet again at home turned the team to jelly and they often had to rely on long balls from defence and individuals l ike Dimitri Payet trying to save the day.
Hammers manager Slaven Bilic sent on all his subs to try and make something happen. It did. It got worse.
In fact, Sunderland had the best chance when West Ham’s defence failed again and allowed Wahbi Khazri a free run at goal but Adrian saved his 46th-minute effort superbly.
There was nobody more relieved at a soggy Selhurst Park last weekend than Bilic after his side ended a run of five Premier League games without a win.
He said: “It was a very dramatic end to a very important game for both teams.
“At first it was, ‘Oh, my God, we haven’t scored again’, but it’s two clean sheets and we have to grab this momentum.”
The Hammers made a bright, positive start but if you cherry-picked a side to restore home gloss then few come better than Sunderland. This huge club has been in freefall for years, bottom
of the table yet again, and arriving with a manager being given the dreaded vote of confidence.
They arrived not having won this season and it should have been fill your boots time.
That looked on the cards as skipper Mark Noble orchestrated midfield.
Then you had Payet menacing again – despite Sunderland’s unique way of curbing his speciality free-kick.
They raced back and forward when he lined up to hit the ball.
It confused everyone, certainly ref Robert Madley who had chalked his lines and more so, Payet, who was forced to pass. But the Frenchman almost made the breakthrough in the 27th minute when he smashed a 20-yard shot on to a post.
Sunderland were so poor West Ham fans only half-heartedly booed former player Jermain Defoe. You almost sensed they felt sorry for him battling alone in attack.
Seconds before the final whistle, Reid added his weight to a corner and as it drifted across goal he fired through a packed goalmouth to beat the previously stable Jordan Pickford. So a rare home win. But it’s still must do better. Moyes said: “We were within 90 seconds of a clean sheet and this is frustrating. We should have done better with the corner but I thought one of their players was offside.”