West Ham 2-1 Everton
by Paul Donovan
at the London Stadium

WEST HAM snatched a late injury time goal to emerge winners of this close fought game against Everton at the London Stadium.

The late excitement came after it looked as though West Ham had squandered the three points, after conceding an 87th minute equaliser.

No-one would have predicted the exciting climax to a game that hardly got started in the first half. Both sides largely cancelled each other out.

The best effort being a low Jarrod Bowen effort that skidded across the area, with Crysencio Summerville and Pablo both failing to make contact.

Ten minutes into the second half, Tomas Soucek rose to meet a Bowen corner and head home.

After that, it was almost all Everton, with a Thierno Barry header cleared off the line by Soucek.

The visitors then had an appeal for a penalty against Mateus Fernandez for handball turned down.

The equaliser came when the  ball was headed out to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall who fired home from just inside the penalty area. West Ham paid the price for sitting back, rather than push on for the second.

Fortunately, they still had Callum Wilson up their sleeve. So a minute into added time El Hadji Malick Diouf crossed for Bowen to head back into the path of substitute Wilson who fired home from close range.

Everton and former West Ham manager David Moyes was understandably upset at the failure to get a penalty for the Fernandes hand ball. But he believes West Ham have momentum at the moment.

West Ham head coach Nuno Espirito Santo agreed, emphasising the importance of momentum.

Espirito Santo also paid tribute to the legacy Moyes had left at the club, bringing in players like Jarrod Bowen and winning the Europa Conference League.

He also praised the support being given to the team at the London Stadium.