Match ends, Everton 0, West Ham United 1.
EvertonEverton0West HamWest Ham United1
Tomas Soucek scored a late winner for West Ham against an uninspiring Everton in the Premier League at Goodison Park.
Aaron Cresswell's shot deflected off Everton defender Yerry Mina into the path of Soucek, who tapped home in the 85th minute of an uneventful game.
Victory ended a run of four successive defeats at his former club for West Ham manager David Moyes.
Everton, who had won their previous four league games, missed out on climbing to second in the table.
Soucek strikes after defences dominate
To say the first 85 minutes lacked creativity would be an understatement. Neither side were able to dominate going forward, with the first shot on target coming on the stroke of half-time.
Moyes and Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti have built their teams around defensive stability.
Soucek's goal was only the second Everton have conceded in five league games, while West Ham have now kept two consecutive clean sheets.
The Hammers had the pick of the chances, Cresswell forcing Jordan Pickford into a smart save and Michail Antonio having a drilled effort kept out in the second half.
West Ham also proved difficult to break down and were playing the better football when midfielder Soucek, their leading scorer this season, netted his fifth goal of the campaign.
West Ham win despite absentees
Although West Ham picked up a third away victory in five games, there were areas of concern for Moyes.
First-choice right-back Ryan Fredericks dropped out of the squad for coronavirus-related reasons, while goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was injured during the warm-up.
Back-up keeper Randolph was rarely tested by Everton, who brought on Colombia forward James Rodriguez in the second half for his first appearance since 5 December.
Everton remain fourth in the table, while West Ham stay 10th.
'We got the reward' - what they said
Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti told BBC Sport: "The game was in the balance. We didn't have a lot of opportunities; they didn't have a lot of opportunities.
"We have to accept the result. It will be important to keep our belief high.
"We are more comfortable defending and using the counter-attack. When we have the ball we have more difficulties and we have adjust this.
"We are in the position we would like to be and hopefully we can be there at the end of the season. That is our target."
West Ham boss David Moyes told BT Sport: "To come to Goodison Park and get three points and to play as well as we did... we got the reward for it.
"It was important to get something from this. It was our third game in six days. We asked the players to do it and they did a brilliant job.
"We have been playing games while missing important players so we have been juggling around trying to find the right balance. Tonight we had a good balance and it gave us a good chance of winning."
Everton stutter at home - the stats
- Everton have lost three of their past five Premier League home games, as many defeats as they suffered in their previous 19.
- Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti has faced David Moyes more times in the Premier League without winning than against any other manager, drawing three and losing three of their six meetings.
- Aaron Cresswell made his 200th Premier League start for West Ham, only the second Hammers player to reach that figure after Mark Noble (365).
- West Ham's Jarrod Bowen has been substituted 15 times in the league this season from 16 starts, more than any other player.
- Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin is without a goal in five league appearances after netting 11 in his previous 11 games.
What's next?
Everton take on Championship side Rotherham in the FA Cup third round on 9 January, while West Ham travel to National League side Stockport County on 11 January.
Player of the match
OgbonnaAngelo Ogbonna
with an average of 8.43
Everton
Avg
- Squad number21Player nameAndré GomesAverage rating
4.31
- Squad number22Player nameGodfreyAverage rating
4.29
- Squad number1Player namePickfordAverage rating
4.18
- Squad number16Player nameDoucouréAverage rating
4.15
- Squad number13Player nameMinaAverage rating
4.15
- Squad number19Player nameRodríguezAverage rating
4.14
- Squad number23Player nameColemanAverage rating
4.14
- Squad number4Player nameHolgateAverage rating
4.00
- Squad number9Player nameCalvert-LewinAverage rating
3.68
- Squad number10Player nameG SigurdssonAverage rating
3.65
- Squad number7Player nameRicharlisonAverage rating
3.52
- Squad number20Player nameBernardAverage rating
3.49
- Squad number26Player nameDaviesAverage rating
3.49
- Squad number14Player nameTosunAverage rating
3.48
West Ham United
Avg
- Squad number21Player nameOgbonnaAverage rating
8.43
- Squad number28Player nameSoucekAverage rating
8.38
- Squad number41Player nameRiceAverage rating
7.74
- Squad number5Player nameCoufalAverage rating
7.62
- Squad number3Player nameCresswellAverage rating
7.54
- Squad number30Player nameAntonioAverage rating
7.52
- Squad number20Player nameBowenAverage rating
7.29
- Squad number15Player nameDawsonAverage rating
7.28
- Squad number9Player nameBenrahmaAverage rating
7.23
- Squad number35Player nameRandolphAverage rating
7.11
- Squad number18Player nameFornalsAverage rating
6.74
- Squad number10Player nameLanziniAverage rating
6.73
- Squad number7Player nameYarmolenkoAverage rating
6.38
- Squad number22Player nameHallerAverage rating
5.36
Line-ups
Everton
- 1Pickford
- 23Coleman
- 13Mina
- 4Holgate
- 22GodfreyBooked at 59mins
- 16Doucouré
- 26DaviesBooked at 77mins
- 20BernardSubstituted forRodríguezat 64'minutes
- 10G SigurdssonSubstituted forAndré Gomesat 64'minutes
- 7Richarlison
- 9Calvert-LewinSubstituted forTosunat 79'minutes
Substitutes
- 5Keane
- 14Tosun
- 18Nkounkou
- 19Rodríguez
- 21André Gomes
- 24Gordon
- 32Branthwaite
- 33Olsen
- 49Lössl
West Ham
- 35Randolph
- 5Coufal
- 15Dawson
- 21Ogbonna
- 3Cresswell
- 41Rice
- 28Soucek
- 20BowenSubstituted forYarmolenkoat 73'minutes
- 9Benrahma
- 18FornalsSubstituted forLanziniat 73'minutes
- 22HallerSubstituted forAntonioat 59'minutes
Substitutes
- 4Balbuena
- 7Yarmolenko
- 10Lanzini
- 11Snodgrass
- 16Noble
- 23Diop
- 25Martin
- 30Antonio
- 31Johnson
- Referee:
- Kevin Friend
Match Stats
Home TeamEvertonAway TeamWest Ham
- Possession
- Home60%
- Away40%
- Shots
- Home10
- Away11
- Shots on Target
- Home2
- Away5
- Corners
- Home5
- Away4
- Fouls
- Home9
- Away7
Live Text
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Full Time
Second Half ends, Everton 0, West Ham United 1.
Post update
Attempt missed. Manuel Lanzini (West Ham United) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is just a bit too high. Assisted by Michail Antonio.
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Foul by James Rodríguez (Everton).
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Saïd Benrahma (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Goal!
Goal! Everton 0, West Ham United 1. Tomas Soucek (West Ham United) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal.
Post update
Attempt missed. Aaron Cresswell (West Ham United) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.
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Attempt saved. Tomas Soucek (West Ham United) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Andriy Yarmolenko.
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Foul by Richarlison (Everton).
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Angelo Ogbonna (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Attempt missed. Yerry Mina (Everton) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Mason Holgate with a headed pass following a set piece situation.
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Richarlison (Everton) wins a free kick on the left wing.
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Foul by Tomas Soucek (West Ham United).
Substitution
Substitution, Everton. Cenk Tosun replaces Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
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Foul by André Gomes (Everton).
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Tomas Soucek (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Booking
Tom Davies (Everton) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Foul by Tom Davies (Everton).
Post update
Michail Antonio (West Ham United) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Post update
Foul by Tom Davies (Everton).
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Comments
Join the conversation
Before that. Don’t be accusing Salah and Mane of diving again after Richarlison’s showing today. You looked at him and he fell over!
So here goes:
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Looking pretty congested in the top half with no team racing away as yet.
Everton will be disappointed, but another half baked shift and only themselves to blame.
How Tom Davies continues to get a game is beyond belief - he NEVER shows any improvement and is no better than Div 1 standard.
Having said that, there was nobody in a blue shirt tonight who was even Championship standard....
Everton don't seem to have the understanding of how to break down a defensive set up.
West Ham were set up perfectly- get behind the ball, don't lose & take your chance when it comes & they were near perfect against Everton's set piece.
Everton need to show a lot more quality if they are to challenge top 4. They need James etc otherwise they are just too easy to defend against.
After all the complaining- good job city had the game called off
Well done WHU - solid performance
We still need to turn more of our draws into wins. But Moyes has got them set up and organised and we are still in a better position than last year! So I won’t grumble!