MOYES IS THINKING BIG WITH HAMMERS
West Ham boss sees off old foe Benitez
RAFA BENITEZ once described David Moyes’ Everton as having a ‘small-time’ mentality.
So theWest Ham manager may have enjoyed handing the now Toffees’ boss his first taste of defeat at Goodison Park as a Blues manager.
Angelo Ogbonna’s second-half header was the difference as the Hammers won back-to-back league games at this ground for the first time since 1930.
There was little between sides yesterday, and there is not likely to be much between them for most of the season, either.
They will both be pushing for European places, if not threatening the big guns for the Champions League spots.
This was what you would expect from sides managed by Benitez and Moyes. Tight and tactical would be two words to describe it.
Moyes, who was in charge of Everton when the then Liverpool boss called them ‘small time’ after a 2007 Merseyside derby draw, secured just his fourth win in 18 games against a side managed by the
Spaniard. It was an important one as well. Not because it put the Hammers above Everton and into seventh but because it laid down a marker against a rival for Europe.
Moyes, right, will have also enjoyed getting the edge in a tight game against a tactician such as Benitez.That was thanks to Ogbonna’s goal but also the midfield ability of Declan Rice who, at 22, continues to prove how valuable he is to this West Ham team.
Everton had chances but they were squandered and in tight games that will hurt. Alex Iwobi’s first-half swing and miss from a good cross by Demarai Gray was a particularly good opportunity. Abdoulaye Doucoure then headed wide but
it was a more difficult chance. The home fans were pretty much silenced as West Ham controlled the game without really penetrating the Toffees’ back line. When they did, the offside flag rightly ruled out an effort from Tomas Soucek.
Everton pressed at the start of the second half and this time Iwobi connected with the ball but saw his shot blocked. Then Salomon Rondon, an ineffective figure for the most part, glanced a header wide.The winner came in the 74th minute. A hacked clearance from Ben Godfrey spun into the air, which led to an aerial challenge between Jordan Pickford and Michail Antonio.
The ball dropped out behind the goal and the officials gave a corner, infuriating Pickford, who felt he was impeded by Antonio.
He was further incensed when Ogbonna rose to head home Jarrod Bowen’s well-placed corner. Everton pushed for an equaliser but they badly missed Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison here with the pair still out injured.
Gray saw his strike blocked by former Everton loanee Kurt Zouma. Bowen came close to rounding off the victory late on but curled his effort just wide. EVERTON (4-4-1-1): Pickford 6; Coleman 6, Godfrey 5, Keane 6, Digne 6; Townsend 7, Doucoure 6, Allan 6, Iwobi 5 (Gordon 79); Gray 6; Rondon 5.
WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Fabianski 7; Johnson 6, Zouma 7, Ogbonna 7, Cresswell 6; Soucek 7 (Dawson 79), Rice 8; Bowen 7 (Yarmolenko 90), Benrahma 6 (Lanzini 87), Fornals 6; Antonio 7. Goal: Ogbonna 74.