West Ham football manager David Moyes was one step away from being fired again, but the Hammers woke up from their lethargy in time. After a four-goal concert against Nottingham, they can rest for a while. The main hero is the new striker Danny Ings, who scored two goals in his first team debut.
The Hammers were waiting. For the first time since the beginning of October, they scored more than two goals in a game and in an important battle between two threatened teams, they beat Nottingham Forest 4:0. Patience played the main role.
For the first time, West Ham won the game after 70 minutes, then scored three more goals within a quarter of an hour, in addition to the two-goal Ings, captain Declan Rice scored beautifully from a distance, and substitute Michail Antonio sealed the result with an accurate header.
“How long did I have to wait for this?” asked Moyes after the game. “Look, I’m not going to walk in here with a bottle of champagne and think it’s all sunshine. But I’m really excited. I’m going to enjoy a glass of wine tonight. Why not? I’ve had enough bad nights,” added the veteran Scotsman.
While in the course of the season so far he was often criticized for his actions, for his conservatism and lack of courage, everything worked out for him on Saturday.
Even though Brazilian playmaker Lucas Paquetá returned from injury, he also kept the improving Tomáš Souček in the lineup.
And he put together a brand new attacking trio: Jarrod Bowen, Danny Ings and Said Benrahma all played fantastically, all three earning a grade above 8 in WhoScored.com analytics.
Ings scored two goals, Bowen added one assist, Benrahma even two.
Souček played the entire match in the midfield, Vladimír Coufal had to be replaced at halftime due to a heel injury. Insiders from the club blog Claret and Hugh discovered that the Czech defender has been playing with pain for several weeks.
“He is able to play at 90 percent, he deserves all the more credit for his performances. He is a personality who always strives to the maximum despite the pain,” the website quoted a source close to the club as saying.
Coufal received mostly positive reactions for his performance in the first half. According to official statistics, he managed to send two key passes.
“He played a role in two of West Ham’s chances and did well defensively,” wrote Football.London magazine. “It was his best attacking performance all season,” Claret and Hugh went further.
Only the London Evening Standard was not sure of the positive outcome: “He created a good chance for Ings, but he lost the ball very cheaply a couple of times.”
As for Souček, the responses in the English media only confirmed that he is returning to his former form in recent weeks.
Harsh criticism is a thing of the past, the newly 28-year-old midfielder played two complete Premier League games in a row for the first time since October and won back the trust of the coach and demanding fans.
According to Football.London, Souček was able to be valid in a combination and complemented Rice and Paqueta well in the midfield. Cech achieved a passing accuracy of 78 percent, which was well above his average for the current season.
“He’s looked significantly better in the last month,” agreed the Evening Standard. “He consistently supported the attack, fought constantly and covered a good part of the pitch,” read the assessment of the Claret and Hugh blog.
Despite the three-point win and ending the scoring slump, there is no room for much celebration in East London.
Although West Ham escaped the relegation zone, the situation at the bottom of the table remains extremely balanced. On Everton’s eighteenth position, Moyes’ selection has only a two-point lead. Another key duel awaits him on the Brighton field on Saturday.
