West Ham United defeated Everton 2-1 to move ahead of Manchester United to the sixth spot on the Premier League table.
Aaron Creswell opened the scoring for the Hammer in the 32nd minute at the London Stadium with a well-taken free-kick. Everton equalised seven minutes into the second half from a deflected Mason Holgate shot following a corner. But Frank Lampard’s men could not build on the leveller, conceding in the 58th minute to handle West Ham the lead again.
The winner came from Jarrod Bowen after Michail Antonio’s shot was saved by Jordan Pickford and the rebound fell to the former. Everton were also reduced to ten men to take away the chance of a comeback, if at all. Michael Keane was shown his second yellow of the night for lunging in on Antonio in the 65th minute.
The defeat further compounded Lampard’s problems at the Merseyside club, as they are now just three points off the drop zone. They have two matches in hand from 18th-placed Watford, but Burnley, placed at 19th, could be a bigger problem for Everton. The Clarets are just four points off Everton and have played as many games.
The two relegation-battling sides face off in the Premier League next at Turf Moor on Wednesday, April 6. The match could go a long way in deciding Everton and Lampard’s future. The upcoming run of fixtures is not easy, with the Toffees yet to play Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal in the league.
Cress' stunner ?
Bowen's finish ?All of the action from today's win at London Stadium! pic.twitter.com/V9u7OeVTzi
— West Ham United (@WestHam) April 3, 2022
On the other hand, West Ham climbed above Manchester United in the Premier League table to take the sixth spot with the Everton win. However, David Moyes’s men have played a match more than his former side. The Hammers are also looking forward to their Europa League quarter-final tie against Lyon this Thursday. Here’s how each player fared in the match-up at the London Stadium.
West Ham United
Lukasz Fabianski: 5/10
The former Arsenal shot-stopper was at fault for Everton’s equaliser as his mishandling allowed Holgate to level things in the second half. He did not have much to do otherwise as Lampard’s side managed just one more shot on target.
Ryan Fredericks: 5/10
Fredericks did not look assured defensively and made a couple of errors that could have hurt the Hammers. But he was lucky to survive. He did not offer much going forward either, attempting just two crosses in the match.
Craig Dawson: 6/10
The centre-back led well from the back and looked composed on the ball. He ventured forward on occasions with Kurt Zouma keeping his back. He was not dribbled past even once to cap off a decent night for himself.
Kurt Zouma: 7/10
The former Chelsea defender was the better of the two central defenders. He kept Dominic Calvert-Lewin quiet throughout the encounter. He made six clearances, blocked a shot, made an interception and was dribbled past just once.
Aaron Cresswell: 8/10
A thing of beauty ? pic.twitter.com/xCers9uvFM
— West Ham United (@WestHam) April 3, 2022
The left-back is slowly getting back into his elements following a lengthy injury lay-off. The 32-year-old scored from a brilliant free-kick to open the scoring for the Hammers. He picked up a yellow card deep in the injury time for kicking Richarlison. He could have been shown a red as well on any other day.
Tomas Soucek: 6/10
Soucek shielded his defence well, making three clearances and two tackles. He was quite effective in the air, engaging in as many as 16 aerial duels and winning nine.
Declan Rice: 7/10
Declan Rice was superb in the middle of the park again. He looked composed on the ball, completing 94% of his passes. He was strong defensively, blocking two shots and making three interceptions and a tackle.
Jarrod Bowen: 7/10
17 – Jarrod Bowen has been directly involved in 17 Premier League goals this season (9 goals, 8 assists), the joint-most of any English player (alongside Harry Kane), and behind only Mo Salah (30) and Son Heung-min (18) overall. Call-up? pic.twitter.com/hAxa3owjvf
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 3, 2022
Bowen restored West Ham United’s lead just six minutes after Everton had equalised with a neat side-footed finish. He was taken off in the 70th minute for Mark Noble.
Said Benrahma: 6/10
Benrahma looked quite busy, popping up all over the pitch. He created one big chance in the match and also took a couple of shots. He was taken off in the 82nd minute for Yarmolenko.
Pablo Fornals: 5/10
Fornals did not have the best match and did not look too assured on the ball. He lost possession as many as 15 times and could not quite create much for his side either.
Michail Antonio: 6/10
Antonio was guilty of missing two big chances to give West Ham some cushion in the match. However, he played three key passes to make up for his wastefulness in front of the goal. It was his shot that ultimately led to the Bowen goal.
SUBSTITUTES
Mark Noble: 6/10
Noble came on for Bowen in the 70th minute and looked assured on the ball. He misplaced just one pass in his short stay on the pitch.
Andriy Yarmolenko: N/A
Yarmolenko came on in the 82nd minute and did not affect the proceedings enough to warrant a rating.
Everton
Jordan Pickford: 5/10
Pickford failed to parry Antonio’s shot well enough not to allow Bowen to score from a rebound. He could not do much to save Cresswell’s free-kick either.
Jonjoe Kenny: 6/10
Kenny did not make a major fault at the back and was quite decent going forward, playing in two successful crosses. He also made three key passes in the match.
Michael Keane: 4/10
Keane was given his marching orders for a mistimed sliding tackle on Antonio. He was first booked in the match for a foul on the West Ham forward as well.
3 – Frank Lampard's Everton side have been given three red cards in their last three Premier League games. Lampard himself was only shown three red cards in his 609-game career as a player in the competition. Bite. pic.twitter.com/rWqRcZkua6
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 3, 2022
Ben Godfrey: 6/10
Godfrey was often forced to break his defensive line and move forward by the West Ham attackers, more so after Keane got sent off. He made four clearances and a tackle in the match.
Vitaliy Mykolenko: 5/10
Mykolenko could not impose himself on West Ham defensively and was also poor going forward. He attempted four crosses in the match, but none of them found his teammate.
Abdoulaye Doucoure: 6/10
Doucoure looked quite busy in the centre of the park but could not make a decisive change to the match’s outcome. He missed that cutting edge.
Mason Holgate: 7/10
Holgate was a late inclusion in the Everton squad after Donny van de Beek was forced to pull out due to an injury in the warm-up. He scored the equaliser for the Toffees and was also asked to slot into the heart of the Everton defence following Keane’s dismissal.
Alex Iwobi: 5/10
The former Arsenal winger was directly responsible for Bowen’s winner. He miscontrolled the ball, which allowed Antonio to capitalise and try a shot. The rebound fell to Bowen, who slotted it home. Iwobi could not take a single shot on goal.
Demarai Gray: 6/10
Gray tried to make inroads into the West Ham defence with his direct play. Four of his five dribble attempts were successful, and he took a shot as well. But all of it was to no avail as the Toffees were sent on back-foot after Keane was sent off.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 5/10
Calvert-Lewin was not as effective as he would have hoped to be. Zouma ensured that the English international could not dictate proceedings and reduced him to just two shots, one of which was a good chance he failed to convert.
Frank Lampard has lost the same number of games (six) as Everton manager as Liverpool have in the whole of 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2021/22 combined.
He's managed that feat in eight games, compared to Liverpool's 106.
— Henry Jackson (@HenryJackson87) April 3, 2022
Richarlison: 6/10
The Brazilian found himself in good positions, but his end product was sorely lacking. He provided the assist for Holgate’s goal but again, no decisive input from him meant Everton went home with nothing.
SUBSTITUTES
Anthony Gordon: 5/10
Gordon came out in the 78th minute to help Everton get an equaliser. But he could get just six touches of the ball.
