Daniel Feliciano

Sat 21 January 2023 16:51, UK

West Ham claimed a huge three points at home against fellow relegation strugglers Everton thanks to two first-half goals from Jarrod Bowen.

The Irons started the game well and looked threatening, and took the lead when Bowen ran in at the back post to poke past Jordan Pickford after Kurt Zouma’s glance from a cross.

Minutes later he got on the end of a fine pass from Michail Antonio to smash into the net, having won the ball on the edge of his own box seconds prior to start a counter-attack and head into the break 2-0 up.

The second half was a close affair with West Ham defending really well and limiting Everton’s threat, ensuring that they were able to claim all three points and move out of the relegation zone.

Here is how we rated the performances of each player for West Ham Zone…

Lukasz Fabianski – 6/10

West Ham controlled the game for the most part, but when Everton had their spells they had very little success in getting shots off which left Fabianski with not much to do. A strong performance claiming crosses and distributing though. About time.

Angelo Obonna – 8/10

Craig Dawson who? Ogbonna is the most experienced defender at the club and showed that he still has quality and plenty to offer with a top display in the middle of the back three, controlling Dominic Calvert-Lewin for the most part, even if Paul Merson does think he was fortunate not to give away a penalty.

Kurt Zouma – 7/10

An early injury scare had many people worried with Dawson on his way out, but he ran it off and put in yet another excellent display in claret and blue. Aerially he is phenomenal and he’s getting better on the ball too, which makes him the complete defender.

Nayef Aguerd – 7/10

It’s clear for all to see why we spent big on this guy in the summer. Aerially he was excellent, he dealt with the physicality of Calvert-Lewin very well and when he had to go wide to help the wing-backs he didn’t let anyone by him either. A top player.

Vladimir Coufal – 6/10

Coufal has had a tough season, but this was definitely one of his better performances in a while. He seemed to have found his energy again and got up and down the flank well, but his final ball let him down in the attacking third. Defensively though he kept Demarai Gray quiet too, which is no easy feat.

Declan Rice – 8/10

The Rice we all know and love was on the pitch today, and he looked determined to ensure West Ham left with nothing but three points. His energy was excellent, he broke up play, he led by example and his passing was good too to progress play. No surprise that when he plays well, we do too.

Lucas Paqueta – 7/10

One of Paqueta’s brighter performances alongside Rice. He didn’t anything particularly outstanding, but he was competitive throughout the entire 70 minutes he had on the pitch and he had some quality touches as usual going forward too.

Emerson Palmieri – 7/10

The Italian was signed in the summer for this exact reason; to provide an attacking threat in a system designed to be more stable defensively. He did just that and was a constant threat, seeing his strike tipped onto the bar in the second half too.

Jarrod Bowen – 9/10

Bowen was back to the goalscoring winger we all know and love today, with a great performance all around. He worked hard defensively and found his shooting boots once again to claim us all three points and hopefully get us back on a run now.

Said Benrahma – 5/10

Benrahma was the unanimous choice by fans to start in attack today, but the Algerian had a very quiet game overall. His passing was tidy and he made no errors, but didn’t offer much to the side today in what was a pretty average performance.

Michail Antonio – 7/10

Considering his comments in midweek, Antonio showed today why he still offers so much to this side. His pace and willingness to constantly run the channels was a huge help to counter attacks and getting up the pitch, and he got a well-deserved assist too.

Substitutes

Danny Ings – N/A

Tomas Soucek – N/A

Flynn Downes – N/A

Ben Johnson – N/A