Credit: Imago

Richie Mills

Sun 26 April 2026 8:45, UK

Kyle Walker-Peters has been hailed for his role in West Ham United‘s winner against Everton, despite not even touching the ball.

West Ham’s hopes of a crucial win over Everton looked set to be dashed after Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall cancelled out Tomas Soucek’s opener two minutes from time.

But the Hammers roared back, and Callum Wilson’s dramatic stoppage-time winner secured Nuno Espirito Santo‘s men a crucial 2-1 victory at London Stadium on Saturday.

The result kept the east London outfit in 17th, two points above Tottenham, who ended their 15-game winless run in the Premier League by beating Wolves.

In the wake of West Ham’s vital victory, Steph Houghton has praised both Wilson and teammate Walker-Peters for their efforts in the six-yard box.

Callum Wilson delivers again

Despite being one of West Ham’s top scorers, the Hammers were working on a deal to terminate the striker’s contract early at the turn of the year.

His winner at Tottenham in January changed things, with the 34-year-old subsequently signing a new deal until the summer of 2027.

And while Wilson showed a healthy dollop of composure for his winner, Houghton pointed out that Walker-Peters hurled himself out of the way to stop him from making an unfortunate goal-line block.

She said on BBC Match of the Day: “Callum Wilson is a very experienced striker coming off the bench, you want your subs to have an impact and he does that. It’s about strikers knowing where to be.

“It’s about what’s next, where can I be, can I read the flight of the ball? Here is a perfect example of never standing still. He kind of gambles; his instinct is to hit the ball into the ground. Kyle Walker-Peters does an amazing job to get out of the way.

“Callum Wilson loves scoring against West Ham. How important could that be for West Ham?”

Indeed, that was Wilson’s ninth goal over the course of his career against Everton.

West Ham respond well to FA Cup heartache

Following the March international break, West Ham fielded a slightly weakened starting XI to face Leeds United in the FA Cup quarter-finals.

While they came from 2-0 down with two stoppage-time goals, they eventually lost on penalties.

That could have rocked their season, but instead, they have thumped Wolves, drawn at Crystal Palace, and beaten Everton in April.

Next up, they travel to Europe-chasing Brentford on Saturday. If they win that, and Tottenham lose at Aston Villa, safety will be within their grasp with only three games to play.