West Ham 0 Everton 1
David Moyes welcomed his old employers to the London Stadium as Everton looked to bounce back from their defeat in the Merseyside derby. They had received the devastating news of the death of Bill Kenwright during the week and both sides observed a minute’s applause before the game.
West Ham started on the front foot as Paqueta found Bowen at the back post but the forward dragged his shot wide of the goal. The West Ham star will have been annoyed with himself as he sets his bar a lot higher than that.
Paqueta then set the visitors up as he left the ball to Harrison who ran through towards goal but as he then had options both left and right of him, instead of slotting either in, he took the shot on and hit a tame effort straight at Areola.
Last season Harrison scored a hat-trick here for Leeds as they beat David Moyes’ side 3-2. Everything he touched that day ended in the back of the net but it did not seem as though he was on the same form on this occasion.
Credit: @Everton
The first half had less chances than a second-hand Monopoly board as neither side could create any clear-cut chances. The fact that Everton had nullified The Hammers’ threat had silenced the home fans somewhat.
David Moyes had the interval to inspire his team but as Ward-Prowse put a good cross into the back post, Bowen headed over the bar from close range. He was definitely not on fire today, which according to the song would have meant a quiet night for Dani Dyer later.
Harrison then laid the ball off to Calvert-Lewin who spun superbly to lose two defenders before shooting into the bottom corner of the goal with Areola unable to get anywhere near the striker’s effort and bring up fifty Premier League goals for the Everton man.
The Toffees were looking dangerous on the counter-attack as West Ham chased the game and Doucoure burst through the middle but his half volleyed effort was brilliantly turned around the post by the West Ham keeper.
Calvert-Lewin found Dourcoure, who laid it off to McNeil, but his long-range effort was tipped over the crossbar by Areola. He was single-handedly keeping David Moyes’ side in this game. Benrahma hit a volley from a Paqueta cross but Pickford did well to keep it out.
It was a successful trip to London for Sean Dyche’s side as they picked up an important three points on the road. West Ham seemed to struggle after their European excursions in the week and Jarrod Bowen had a rare off-day.
Credit: @Everton
Jordan Pickford got a long-awaited clean sheet mainly aided by Tarkowski and Branthwaite who combined well as a centre-back partnership. Everton will need to keep these two fit if they hope to not be involved in a relegation battle this season.
Results and performances in the first nine games of the season have started to make Sean Dyche morph into Phil Mitchell during his drinking phases but the manager will be pleased with what he saw from his team today, showing they have the minerals to dig deep and get results.
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