Bowen celebrates expecting twins with two goals to lift Hammers out of relegation zone
Hope everyone is safe and well.
Well, just when I was thinking I’ll need to keep up with my Back to the Future series, Bowen hits some form with two well taken goals that pile pressure on Lampard and keeps the Toffees 19th in the Premier League. On this form, and given their lack of goals relegation is looking increasingly likely for the beleaguered club.
Everton fans showed their anger at the end of the match with banners saying To Hell With Kenwright and Moshiri – who attended his first game for 14 months with the other directors, after they were advised to miss the previous match due to fears for their safety. And despite their possession, Everton never looked like scoring and the players frustration was visible at the end of the match.
West Ham said farewell to David Gold, a life long Hammer, with a respectful tribute to the joint chairman who was born in the shadow of Upton Park and even played for the youth team as a promising youngster between the ages of 13 and 16. Mark Noble, newly appointed sporting director, laid a wreath with Gold’s daughters as fans watched a video of David Gold talking about his life.
It was a fitting farewell, received with applause from a packed stadium before a match that was set up to decide the futures of two managers and the tension was there as the teams ran out onto the pitch – honestly I couldn’t call which way this game was going to go.
In early exchanges the crowd were unforgiving demanding a reaction for the Hammers from last weeks hugely disappointing result, and what they wanted was a team fighting for the ball, digging in and going all out for a win. Movement, passing and probing forward to get into those spaces and whip in balls to set up chances to score.
Defensively the team were determined and held their nerve as the Toffees had the lion’s share of possession but with very little to show for it. Then we have two wonderful goals to feast on to give the Hammers their first league win in 3 months. Despite a VAR check for offside, Bowen’s first goal came from a Kurt Zouma header that knocked the ball past Jordan Pickford for Bowen to put home his first goal in 12 games. Cue celebrations from the stands as Bowen grabs the ball and puts it up his shirt as he runs to the crowd with both thumbs in his mouth.
7 minutes later we have another as Antonio races down the right wing, through Tarkowski’s diving tackle to deliver a low cross for the advancing Bowen to hit home from close range. Alex Iwobi came close later on in the half to pulling one back, but the Hammers had chances of their own to increase the lead, most tantalising being Declan Rice’s shot rolling inches outside of the post in the later stages of the game.
The Hammers were in no mood to give in and held out for a well deserved win, with Moyes highlighting “The only difference between this and the other performances was scoring two goals.” Let’s hope this is the start of a run of form that sees us climb up the table and away from the drop zone, because we are not out of danger yet. The win sees Moyes back to work this week, but the jury is still out regarding whether we need to change managers as yet. Time is running out on that but with this performance we may start to see some positive results in the coming weeks.
Enjoy the photos from the game.
Take care everyone
Dawud
From the Stands 