WHZ View: Three things we learned from West Ham win v Leeds
West Ham moved onto 48 points for the Premier League season after beating Leeds 2-0 at the London Stadium.
Jesse Lingard scored his fourth goal in six games and Craig Dawson added a second as the Hammers completed the double over the Whites. It’s a win that moves David Moyes’ side back to fifth spot with a game in hand on fourth-placed Chelsea.
The visitors had their chances to score. Patrick Bamford and Raphinha both missed chances in the second half as Leeds fell to a fourth defeat in five games.
The Irons had to dig in to ensure they’d take all three points. West Ham Zone have highlighted three things to take away from the win on Monday evening.
Dominance from Dawson
We’re genuinely running out of words to describe Craig Dawson. The Rochdale Ramos was at it again on Monday, scoring a bullet header to put us 2-0 up.
He was unfortunate not to have a second, seeing his header flash off the post. He was also excellent at the back, in particular, his late goal-line clearance.
There is an option to turn his loan move from Watford into a permanent one for a £3million fee. It might be the steal of the century.
Digging in to win
It’s fair to say that this wasn’t our best performance. We have definitely played better this season but still came away with three points.
Both Declan Rice and David Moyes said after the game that they were unhappy with the performance which is good to hear. Having just moved back into the top five, the boss and skipper still aren’t satisfied and it’s this attitude that will continue to drive us on.
Leeds had a lot more chances than us in the end but failed to take them. It’s positive to see us not play to our best level but still win.
Leeds start fast (almost)
In fairness to the visitors, they were very unlucky not to take an early lead. Helder Costa was deemed to be offside by the smallest of margins as he teed up Tyler Roberts.
Instead, they found themselves 2-0 down within 25 minutes. It’s becoming a regular occurrence for Leeds, who tend to leak goals in the first half.
This season, the Whites have conceded 29 goals in the first half of their matches. They started both halves at the London Stadium very much in control, straight in our faces but just couldn’t find the back of the net.
In other West Ham news, Declan Rice is simply priceless to this club.