West Ham’s three best players against Wolves as Hammers get second wind with important 1-0 victory at the London Stadium.
David Moyes and his players knew they were standing at a crossroads ahead of the home match against Wolves.
Wins for Arsenal and Spurs had put the Hammers under pressure in the race for the European spots.
Conversely Manchester United’s failure to beat Watford also offered a carrot ahead of Sunday’s game.
The pressure was on with West Ham knowing a Wolves win would put Bruno Lage’s side above them in the table with a game in hand.
But there were really positive signs here that West Ham still have a bit of fuel left in the tank.
Moyes’s side have looked like they were running on empty of late.
If that was the case then the Scot saw his players get a second wind against a very strong Wolves side.
It was far from perfect. And still a far cry from the swashbuckling West Ham who have been putting teams away with ease over the last couple of seasons.
But make no mistake this is a superb result for West Ham after draws against Newcastle and Leicester. It also serves to highlight just how important not losing was in those games.
The east Londoners are now two points off Man United in fourth.
Arsenal have three games in hand – but they are by no means a sure thing with Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool being their catch-up matches.
It was a solid team performance but who were the standout performers?
West Ham’s three best players against Wolves as Hammers get second wind
Kurt Zouma
It has taken the outbreak of war for the reaction to the Zouma saga to quieten down. But the defender has not put a foot wrong since his daft actions brought an unwelcome spotlight onto West Ham.
Zouma was immense again and comfortably the man of the match. I have not seen who was awarded that by Sky Sports in the live coverage, but if it wasn’t Zouma then it would have been political correctness gone mad.
The £29m man was absolutely everywhere, first to every ball and every header. And he made several potentially goal-saving interventions and tackles. A superb performance and without him West Ham may not have won that match. Man mountain.
Declan Rice
This was more like the Rice we know and love after some rare below par performances from the West Ham talisman.
Breaking up attacks, charging forward, picking the right passes and using his athleticism and power to ensure West Ham got the win.
A mature display in which he was desperately unlucky not to get at least one goal with a brilliant curling effort from outside the box hitting the post.
What a player. A real captain’s performance in every way.
Pablo Fornals
It was a toss up between a number of players including Ben Johnson, Craig Dawson, Lukasz Fabianski, Manuel Lanzini and Pablo Fornals to pick out West Ham’s third best player on the day.
Fabianski did so well and showed why he is still Moyes’s number one. He just does all the basics so, so well. Dawson was excellent again and Lanzini was so tidy on the ball when he was able to get on it.
Fornals, though, was back to his hard-working best and was involved in most of West Ham’s good play going forward. Full of intent, full of running and really put a superb shift in for the team. Came off right at the end to much deserved big hugs from all the coaching staff and rapturous applause from the home fans.
West Ham player ratings:
Fabianski 7, Johnson 7, Dawson 7, Zouma 9, Cresswell 7, Rice 8, Soucek 6, Lanzini 6, Fornals 7, Bowen 6, Antonio 6.
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