HAMMERS HISTORY
Back-to-back wins at Everton for first time since 1930
COLONEL Harland Sanders was selling his first fried chicken and Clarence Birdseye had just introduced the world to frozen food the last time West Ham won back-to-back games at Goodison Park, more than 91 years ago.
It is safe to say these occasions don’t come around very often, so David Moyes had every reason to celebrate what also represented a personal triumph over his former club Everton and old adversary Rafa Benitez yesterday.
Moyes has not had many happy returns to Goodison since leaving to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United in 2013. Indeed, his last stand as United boss took place here the following year when many will recall the image of a Grim Reaper on his shoulder in the dugout.
But the Scot won at his old stomping ground for the first time with West Ham on New Year’s Day, and he did it again yesterday thanks to a 74th-minute header from defender Angelo Ogbonna to give the Hammers consecutive wins at Goodison for the first time since March 1930.
In doing so, Moyes stopped Benitez eclipsing his best start to the season as Everton boss in 2004 when the Scotsman had 16 points from the first eight games. His team moved above Everton on goal difference in what is likely to be an ongoing battle for European football.
Moyes and Benitez fought memorable Merseyside derbies here, but this encounter will not linger long in the memory.
It was no surprise it was settled by a goal from a corner, considering West Ham have scored more from set-pieces than any other Premier League team since Moyes returned to the club in December 2019. This was No 29 excluding penalties.
Referee Stuart Attwell’s decision to award the corner 16 minutes from time was disputed by Everton after goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was challenged by Michail Antonio.
‘I have a problem because I am from Spain and normally in Europe the six-yard box is to protect the keeper,’ said Benitez. ‘When you have a player blocking the keeper in the six-yard area it’s a free-kick, and then you argue whether there is a corner. You must protect him.
‘I spoke to the fourth official, they have their own idea. We were talking about how dangerous this team could be with their height but the way the corner was given is disappointing.’
Jarrod Bowen delivered the ball and Ogbonna rose above Ben Godfrey to flick a header past Pickford into the far corner.
Not surprisingly, Moyes defended Attwell’s decision not to penalise Antonio. ‘There is a bit more contact in the game,’ he said. ‘The game is a better watch than it was over the last two seasons. Overall, the referees are doing a much better job than they have been.
‘Nowadays everyone has a set-piece coach. We have people who want to head the ball. Ogbonna has a couple of goals but you need someone who can deliver it and Jarrod put one in today.’
West Ham deserved their win in a seesaw game and had two standout players in Declan Rice and Kurt Zouma. They also had an effort by Tomas Soucek ruled out for offside shortly before half-time.
Soucek did not finish the game because he needed stitches in a mouth wound after he got an accidental boot from Salomon Rondon. ‘He’ll have a bad-looking face for a few days,’ added Moyes.
Everton were left to rue the continued absence of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison as they failed to make the most of their chances.
The best opportunity fell to Alex Iwobi in the first half after Demarai Gray had sent a cross to the edge of the six-yard box. Iwobi had the whole goal in front of him but failed to connect with the ball.
Rondon glanced a header wide from Andros Townsend’s cross in the second half and Godfrey volleyed over when he had the chance to equalise from Gray’s corner late on.
It brought Everton back down to earth after an excellent performance at Old Trafford last time out, while for Moyes this was a welcome win after the pain of losing at home to Brentford.
‘I don’t know if I lost too many back to back when I was at Everton,’ he said. ‘It was a long couple of weeks after Brentford, so this was a great result.’ EVERTON (4-4-1-1): Pickford 7; Coleman 6.5, Godfrey 6, Keane 7, Digne 6; Townsend 7, Doucoure 5.5, Allan 6, Iwobi 5 (Gordon 79min, 6); Gray 7.5; Rondon 5. Manager: Rafa Benitez 6 WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Fabianski 6; Johnson 6, Zouma 7.5, Ogbonna 7, Cresswell 6; Soucek 7 (Dawson 79), RICE 8; Bowen 6.5 (Yarmolenko 90+4), Benrahma 6 (Lanzini 87), Fornals 6.5; Antonio 6.5. Scorer: Ogbonna 74. Booked: Antonio, Fornals. Manager: David Moyes 7. Referee: Stuart Attwell 6. Attendance: 39,132.