The weekend is at an end, and while there’s still one more Premier League game to go tomorrow, the core of the action has finished as we look ahead to the new week – and we closed things off earlier today with a bang, as West Ham United defeated Everton 3-1 at Goodison Park. It’s a victory that their fans have been desperate for after a few weeks of lacklustre performances, and while the jury is still out on Manuel Pellegrini, these three points will almost certainly ease the pressure on the boss.
Hot start
It seemed obvious that the visitors were more up for the game from the word go, with West Ham coming forward with a purpose. You could tell that they were desperate to register the win, and Andriy Yarmolenko, who was formerly a target for Everton, kicked things off with a nice goal stemming from a counter attack. The same man doubled the Hammers’ advantage with a curled effort, with Everton being left to wonder what had happened.
Gylfi Sigurdsson’s delightful header ensured that the deficit was just one goal heading into the half time interval, but the timing wasn’t great as Everton seemed to lose any momentum they had upon coming out for the second half. Arnautovic, who has arguably been West Ham’s player of the season thus far, netted the third goal to compound the home side to a miserable afternoon in Liverpool.
Bad day at the office
Everton actually enjoyed more of the possession but they just weren’t able to do anything with it, and they also had more shots – but only a quarter of them were on target. They also committed more fouls, although West Ham were shown quite a few yellow cards throughout the course of the encounter.
Looking ahead to what’s next can always be tricky both in victory and in defeat, because most of the time, you want to focus on what’s just happened. Still, both clubs are in for some tough games with Everton travelling to the Emirates to take on Arsenal, whereas West Ham will come head to head with London rivals Chelsea. Both games are set to be played next Sunday.
Match Report
Everton: Pickford (6), Kenny (6), Holgate (6), Zouma (5.5), Digne (6.5), Gueye (6), Schneiderlin (6.5), Walcott (6), Sigurdsson (6.5), Calvert-Lewin (6), Tosun (5)
West Ham: Fabianski (6.5), Zabaleta (6), Balbuena (6.5), Diop (6), Masuaku (6), Rice (6), Yarmolenko (7.5), Noble (6), Obiang (6.5), Felipe Anderson (7), Arnautovic (7)
Referee: Martin Atkinson
Goals: Sigurdsson :: Yarmolenko x2, Arnautovic
Yellow Cards: Bernard, Calvert-Lewin, Zabaleta, Masuaku, Rice, Yarmolenko, Snodgrass
Red Cards: N/A
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