West Ham United 4 Bournemouth 0
Wednesday 1st January 2020
Few managers will have such a start to their career in the hot seat than David Moyes did at London Stadium on New Year’s Day 2020. Moyes was of course famously first mentioned in the context of West Ham by the Manchester City fans in the first of a two-legged League Cup Semi-Final at the Etihad Stadium almost exactly six years ago, managed then by the man he was now taking over from, one Manuel Pellegrini. As the goal celebrations after City’s fifth subsided on the hour, the home fans let rip with, “You’re getting Moyes in the morning. Moyes in the moooor-ning, you’re getting Moyes in the morning.”
Of course, strictly speaking, this wasn’t Moyes’ first game as manager of West Ham. It was the first of his second spell, his earlier first spell debut being an away fixture at Watford in November 2017, which West Ham lost 2-0. He has the same job of keeping the club in the Premier League as he did last time he was appointed, but this time his contract is for eighteen months and not just six. On his second debut things went a lot better for him, and the Hammers were pretty much home and dry at half-time as they left the pitch three goals up against a weary looking Bournemouth side. Mark Noble grabbed a brace through a deflected shot and a penalty, his first goals for the club since the opening day of the season, but Sebastien Haller’s spectacular volley from Fredericks’ angled cross was the pick of the three.
Prior to this game, West Ham had only won two matches at London Stadium, both back in the sunshine of late August and September against Norwich City and, arguably Moyes’ greatest managerial disappointment, Manchester United. A fifty per cent improvement on the home league form was a perfect start to the new decade.
Bournemouth were poor, but West Ham have played lesser sides this season who have left the ground with all three points, so no one in claret and blue livery was complaining. Collecting Declan Rice’s perfect through ball with a neat first touch, Felipe Anderson scored his first of the season and West Ham’s fourth with twenty minutes left. Bournemouth have lost out through VAR decisions twice against West Ham this season – they had a potential winning goal cancelled out in their home fixture against the Hammers in September, and were also denied a one man advantage when the club programme’s cover star Aaron Cresswell saw a straight red for his challenge on Ryan Fraser commuted to a mere booking.
This was the perfect start to a new reign and a new year, and with another transfer window opening, David Moyes would no doubt have a few players in mind that would help him and West Ham secure Premier League footballing status for a fifth successive season at the new stadium.
1 Lucasz Fabianski, 2 Ryan Fredericks, 4 Fabian Balbuena, 21 Angelo Ogbonna, 3 Aaron Cresswell, 11 Robert Snodgrass, 16 Mark Noble (captain), 41 Declan Rice, 18 Pablo Fornals, 8 Felipe Anderson, 22 Sebastien Haller
Substitutes: 10 Manuel Lanzini, 26 Arthur Masuaku
Goals: Mark Noble (18), Sebastien Haller (26), Mark Noble (36, penalty), Felipe Anderson (67).
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