16 min: West Ham are an absolute shambles at the back. Bernard is fed into acres out on the left. He rolls the ball across the face of goal. Neither Calvert-Lewin nor Richarlison can extend a toe to poke home. And that’s all they had to do, because the West Ham defenders were spinning like tops, and Fabianski missed the ball altogether.
14 min: Arnautovic tries to launch an attack up the other end, and for a second threatens to break clear into the box. But he falls over, perhaps out of karmic duty, because 1-1 on the balance of play so far would be a complete outrage!
13 min: Fabianski is the hero for the fourth time in about 75 seconds as he does just enough to put off Calvert-Lewin, the pair competing for a high cross from the right. Calvert-Lewin wasn’t far away from dinking a header over the keeper and into the net, but Fabianski stood tall.
12 min: Everton are this close to a sensational goal. Richarlison turns adroitly down the right and slips in Calvert-Lewin, who hammers a shot at Fabianski from a tight angle. The keeper does well to parry. That would have been very pretty. Sigurdsson tries to knock in the rebound. Fabianski then saves again. Then Digne drifts in from the left and curls for the bottom right. Fabianski tips that one away too!
10 min: And here’s Gueye romping down the left! He earns a corner, Everton’s third already, after a long dribble. Keane wins an easy header, but fortunately for West Ham there’s no direction on it and Ogbonna can clear at the second time of asking.
9 min: Have West Ham been on the London gin? They’re all over the shop at the moment. Now it’s Bernard’s turn to skedaddle down the left. He drops a shoulder to cut inside, and shapes to shoot. He’s just about closed down, just in time.
8 min: Nothing comes from the corner. West Ham really did get away with one there. Sigurdsson was guilty of overthinking that a little.
7 min: That’s quietened the home crowd. But there are soon mutterings as Everton are attacking five on three! Gomes slips Sigurdsson into the area down the left. Sigurdsson surely must shoot, but opts to return the ball towards Gomes. The ball’s deflected out for a corner on the left.
GOAL! West Ham United 0-1 Everton (Zouma 5)
Sigurdsson floats the corner into the box. Zouma rises, eight yards out. He beats Diop to the ball, rising highest and heading down, the ball bouncing back up and into the top right. So simple! That’s a fine header, but weak defending by Diop, who did next to nothing.
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4 min: Gueye slips a lovely ball down the right for Richarlison, who earns a corner off Cresswell. From which …
2 min: Ogbonna launches long for Arnautovic, but there’s too much oomph on the ball and it sails through to Pickford. Both sides just putting out feelers early doors.
And we’re off! West Ham get the ball rolling. But it’s Everton on the front foot quickly, Calvert-Lewin romping down the left. He’s forced to check back by Zabaleta, though, and eventually Rice, one of England’s men of the moment, intercepts to settle the hosts down.
The teams are out! A fine post-afternoon-in-pub atmosphere at the London Stadium. Bubbles fading in the spring sun. West Ham are in their famous claret, while Everton sport their storied blue. A classic aesthetic. Shades of the Swinging Sixties. We’ll be off in a sec!
No pre-match interview with Manuel Pellegrini. Marco Silva doesn’t say too much either. “It is really important to find some consistency. The second half against Chelsea was a good sign.” So there you have it. Tiger Woods has just beaten Rory McIlroy 2&1 in the last 16 of the WGC-Dell Match Play, by the way. The Masters just a fortnight away! But we digress.
The Premier League launches its No Room for Racism campaign this weekend. The two captains will also wear armbands celebrating 25 years of Kick It Out, English football’s equality and inclusion organisation.
West Ham make three changes to the XI named against Huddersfield a fortnight ago. Mark Noble and Michail Antonio drop to the bench, while Felipe Anderson misses out altogether. Pedro Obiang, Robert Snodgrass and Lucas Perez take their places.
Everton make just one enforced change to the side that beat Chelsea two weeks past. Kurt Zouma comes in for the hamstrung Yerry Mina.
The teams
West Ham United: Fabianski, Zabaleta, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Rice, Snodgrass, Obiang, Lanzini, Arnautovic, Lucas Perez.
Subs: Balbuena, Adrian, Noble, Hernandez, Masuaku, Antonio, Diangana.
Everton: Pickford, Coleman, Keane, Zouma, Digne, Gueye, Andre Gomes, Richarlison, Sigurdsson, Bernard, Calvert-Lewin.
Subs: Baines, Jagielka, Walcott, Tosun, Stekelenburg, Davies, Lookman.
Referee: Paul Tierney (Lancashire).
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Preamble
There are usually goals whenever these famous old clubs play each other. West Ham won the last two meetings 3-1; Everton triumphed 4-0 in the one before that. Then in the one before that … well, it ended 0-0. But to be fair, that was one of only two goalless draws between this pair in the last 30 years.
So there you have it! Latter-season mid-table non-event? I don’t think so! Especially as a seventh-place finish, the Best of the Rest now supposedly being a thing, is a very real possibility for both clubs, one which would augur well for next season after a campaign of disappointment and underachievement. A Saturday night spectacular? Yes please! It’s on!
Kick off: 5.30pm.
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