David Moyes’s reign at West Ham has had a steady start but the Scotsman’s impact has been instantly recognised. In the previous three games against the big three of Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal where everyone had written off the hammers, the hammers got 4 points out of 9 but they had to make sure they kept this consistency against other teams as well and they certainly did against a woeful Stoke City team in a must-win game. Goals from Mark Noble, Marko Arnautovic and Diafra Sakho sealed the deal. Here’s how West Ham have been rated:-
GK: Adrian – 6/10
He was hardly tested today but he still remains a key figure for West Ham.
RWB : Pablo Zabaleta – 6.5/10
He ran a lot today and made some strong challenges. Dealt nicely with Shaqiri in the second half.
CB: James Collins – 7.5/10
Made a fantastic block on one of Shaqiri’s efforts and he was absolutely solid throughout the evening. He’s not a bad backup to have at all if he retains this form.
CB : Angelo Ogbonna – 7.5/10
Went about his job with a no-nonsense approach and put in a neat, focused shift again. He looks unassailable under Moyes.
CB: Aaron Cresswell – 7/10
He looks rejuvenated under this new role as a centreback and he looked really good today as well. He certainly didn’t let Crouch get the better of him and he was decent moving forward to pass the ball along.
LWB: Arthur Masuaku – 7/10
Made massive amount of runs forward and troubled Stoke but there was no efficient end product.
CM: Pedro Obiang – 6/10
Made his presence felt in the middle and covered the defence with timely and effective interceptions.
CM: Mark Noble – 6/10
Finished off the penalty as cooly as the tag of Mr.West Ham sounds but he had to be substituted after suffering an injury.
CAM: Manuel Lanzini – 7.5/10
Won the penalty for Noble’s goal and provided two assists for Arnautovic and Sakho respectively. He was excellent today and his drives really did trouble the potters.
FW: Michael Antonio – 4.5/10
His dives and making a meal out of thing was disgraceful today. Gave the ball away too much and didn’t make any impact.
FW: Marko Arnautovic – 7/10
Had some great chances to put the game to bed until he did it as the game entered the last quarter. Gave a good response to all the jeers.
Substitutes:-
CM: Declan Rice – 7/10
Full of energy and awareness to deal with Stoke’s midfield. Good performance.
FW: Diafra Sakho – 6/10
Had few chances to score but he looked a bit rusty. He finally did score with a sweet finish after Lanzini gave the ball to him on a plate.
FW: Javier Hernandez -N/A
Came on late and can’t be rated.
