Staff Reporter.
A late goal from Tomas Soucek gave West Ham United a 1-0 win at Everton in the first Premier League game of 2021 that had been short on fireworks until the Czech midfielder’s well-deserved winner in the 86th minute.
The victory leaves West Ham 10th in the standings with 26 points while Everton, who could have gone second with a win, remain in fourth spot on 29 points.
It took until just before halftime for either side to register a shot on target as Everton’s Brazilian winger Bernard fired a fizzing drive goalwards, but Randolph was alert to the danger and got down smartly to keep the ball out.
The introduction of Mikhail Antonio as a 59th-minute substitute provided a much-needed shot in the arm for West Ham and they had a flurry of chances in quick succession around the hour mark, but it was Soucek’s late strike that sealed it.
Cresswell got plenty of power on his shot, which got a heavy deflection before falling perfectly for Soucek to stab it home from close range.
Soucek’s goal gave West Ham boss David Moyes his first victory at Goodison Park since leaving Everton in 2013.
“To come to Goodison Park and get three points and to play as well as we did … we got the reward for it,” a delighted Moyes told BT Sport.
“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.”
Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti was disappointed not to get more out of the game.
“The game was in the balance. We didn’t have a lot of opportunities, they didn’t have a lot of opportunities,” he said.
“We have to accept the result. It will be important to keep our belief high … 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.”
Meanwhile five Manchester City players are unavailable for their Premier League match at Chelsea on Sunday following positive coronavirus tests.
Kyle Walker, Gabriel Jesus and three unnamed players are in isolation.
“I don’t think the Premier League allow us to name the players but you will know [on Sunday],” Pep Guardiola said.
City’s game at Everton on 28 December was called off following the positive tests but the rest of the first-team bubble has since tested negative.
Guardiola said City had enough players to play at Goodison Park but the match was postponed because the tests results were returned earlier the same day.
“We wanted to play but on the day of the game, with more cases, we informed the Premier League,” Guardiola said.
“I personally called (Everton manager) Carlo Ancelotti to explain the situation because the day before we were in touch about what would happen and the huge risk.”
Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech could make his first appearance since suffering a hamstring injury in early December against Leeds at Stamford Bridge.
Defender Reece James will definitely miss the game because of a similar problem.