Premier League
Mad Marko gives Moyes his 200th Premier League win
JUST 11 seconds into the second half, Marko Arnautovic flicked the ball past Tommy Smith with his right foot and half-volleyed home with his left. Up in the stands at the John Smith’s Stadium, a certain Eric Cantona might have crossed the mind of one interested spectator, Sir Alex Ferguson.
Arnautovic is not quite a Cantona, of course. But he can light up and win any match when he’s in the mood and yesterday was one of them.
He scored West Ham’s key second goal and set up all of their others. He is also a refreshingly spiky interviewee, in contrast to the blandness you get et from other players, as seen een when asked about his is two assists for his s front partner, Manuel Lanzini.
‘Lanzini told me I never give him any passes,’ Arnautovic said, part humour, part putting the boot in. . ‘ Today he got two. wo. Now I think he needs ds to be quiet until t he next game.’
David Moyes’s man- management of big players is perceived as his greatest flaw, but he has got a tune out of ‘Mad Marko’, who has now scored six in his last seven league games.
Moyes praised the Austrian for embracing a more energetic and disciplined kind of football under his regime but the Scot also seems to have embraced the maverick.
‘As we know, he likes a boast,’ grinned the Scot, clearly enjoying his time at West Ham, which could well last beyond his initial contract until the end of the season.
‘I think Marko knows if you want to run, you will play. Every week he is producing almost the highest sprinting stats in the league. ‘He is a handful. We have probably freed him up going from the wing to playing in the middle. At times he needs a strong hand but his attitude has been excellent.’ Arnaut Arnautovic’s pressing led to We West Ham’s opening goa goal and that probabl bly pleased his mana ager as much as t the technical brilliance for the second, or vision in creating two for L Lanzini. Moyes has four re recognised strikers at th the club but chose to par partner Arnautovic and Lanz Lanzini up front and leave Andre Ayew and Javier Hernandez on the bench, with Andy Carroll (ankle) injured and Diafra Sakho’s future looking uncertain. ‘I can only pick the players I think can get me results,’ said Moyes.
Yesterday was win No 200 in the Premier League for the 54-yearold, joining a very exclusive club that has only three other members: Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Harry Redknapp.
It looked a long way off when West Ham struggled for the opening 25 minutes until they were gifted the lead. Huddersfield’s Joe Lolley miscontrolled a passout from goalkeeper Jonas Lossl and was pressured into losing the ball by Arnautovic.
Mark Noble was on hand to smash in the loose ball from 12 yards in front of the jubilant travelling support.
It was only Lolley’s second Premier League game and he will have been relieved when he scored a fine equaliser shortly before half-time, receiving a pass from Aaron Mooy and curling it in from the edge of the box.
‘It was important for his confidence after his mistake,’ said Terriers manager David Wagner.
Alas, it had no impact on the final result. West Ham dominated the second half, literally from the ki ck- of f as Cheikh Kouyate flicked on a long ball and Arnautovic showed great quality to turn a half-chance into a goal.
Arnautovic had been aghast when Lanzini wastefully attempted a rabona instead of passing. But the Austrian showed he was the bigger team man by setting up his team-mate twice in five minutes to secure West Ham’s victory.
The first was a slide-rule pass for Lanzini, who was kept onside by Smith, to score with a low fini sh. Arnautovic’s final assist resulted from a strong run into the area that two defenders failed to stop, the ball ending at Lanzini’s feet for the finish.
Huddersfield are now below the Londoners in the table and the only consolation was an impressive debut from substitute Alex Pritchard, signed from Norwich.
Wagner confessed: ‘ We were below par and you can not make those kind of mistakes if you want points in the Premier League.’
For Moyes, a historic 200th win from his time with Everton, Manchester United, Sunderland and now West Ham was a welcome bonus to three points.
‘I’ve just been told,’ he said. ‘I am thrilled the players were able to get me that and thanks to all the other players in years gone by.’