David Moyes was smiling again after his West Ham United team produced another fine performance to defeat Leeds United 3-1 at London Stadium.
While grit, determination and organization were the order of the day in Thursday’s UEFA Europa Conference League semi-final second-leg win at AZ Alkmaar, creativity and flair took centre-stage as the Hammers won their final home Premier League game of the 2022/23 season in style.
Things looked a little ominous when Rodrigo volleyed the visitors in front midway through the first half, but the Irons leveled through Declan Rice’s volley before the interval.
And, with the pressure of potential relegation lifted by results elsewhere on Sunday, the Irons played with increasing freedom as the second half wore on.
With Paquetá and Hammer of the Year Rice imperious, the hosts went ahead when Jarrod Bowen poked in Danny Ings’ inch-perfect through ball, then made sure of the victory when the Brazilian beat two defenders and set up substitute Manuel Lanzini to emphatically thump in from close-range.
Having guided his team to a major European final and Premier League safety, Moyes was able to enjoy the post-match lap of thanks, which was enjoyed by the tens of thousands of West Ham supporters who had remained in their seats to cheer on their Prague-bound heroes.
We’re making a habit of ending the season with these sorts of wins.
I can remember beating Everton here and Big Sam was the manager that day as well. It was great to get this victory on the back of the midweek result as well. I’m really pleased. The players showed great mentality and great character to come from a goal down.
We had to dig quite deep.
They had a couple of half-chances in the opening 15 minutes which I wasn’t too pleased about. But, overall, we worked our way back into the game and we played well in the second half. I thought we probably should have scored more.
I thought we played with some real freedom.
The shackles were off and Paquetá was fantastic. Pablo Fornals played as well as he’s played for a long time today, and Declan plays well all the time but he played very well today as well.
I enjoyed the goals.
I was watching them go in and then I’m seeing the players trying to make goals for each other too. It was great.
Declan tried to be unselfish and put one over for Danny [Ings]. Then there was another one and Lucas was trying to pick out Declan. You can see they’re all team players and they’re trying to make it better for each other
We need the competition in our squad.
There is not a lot between some of the players in our squad. You could maybe toss a coin on which one you choose sometimes, but I want them all to be ready.
Also, you have to keep the squad attentive. It’s not easy. The hardest part of being a manager is naming the team because there are ten players who you’re not giving a game too and it becomes really difficult. It can be a difficult job.
I think this is a really important result.
I think this is the first week now since April when we’ve not had a midweek game. It nearly feels unbelievable that we’ve got the chance to give the lads a couple of days off. But today’s momentum is what is really important. It’s better to have the momentum and we’ve got a one-off final and we’ve got to try and make sure, when it gets to the one-off final, that we’re better than the opposition on the day.
I was amazed with the attendance for our lap of appreciation.
The stadium was full at the end. If it wasn’t full after reaching a European final though, there’s no other reason why it would be. The players have done a brilliant job. The players have stuck at it when it has not been easy.
We won here against Gent and we had AZ Alkmaar, and it’s been a real long shift. But I’m really pleased for the supporters. We’re leaving today with smiles on our faces and hopefully we’re going to have an even bigger one in a couple of weeks.
