Daily WHUFC News - 30th May 2018

Hammers defeated by champions City
WHUFC.com

West Ham United 1 – 4 Manchester City
Premier League

West Ham United suffered a 4-1 defeat to newly-crowned Premier League champions Manchester City at London Stadium on Sunday, conceding a brace of goals either side of the interval as the visitors showed just why they've swept all before them aside this term. The hosts briefly had hope when Aaron Cresswell curled home a 42nd minute free-kick to make the score 2-1, but Gabriel Jesus and Fernandinho scored after the break to add to a Leroy Sane strike and Pablo Zabaleta's own goal in the first half. City were dominant for the large majority of the contest and deserved to take the points, meaning the Hammers head into the final three matches still needing the points to make sure of Premier League safety. The pattern was set early, with the visitors enjoying 80 percent possession in the opening ten minutes, although their opening goal did carry an element of luck to it. Sane's shot from 20 yards appeared to be heading towards Adrian on the right hand side of the goal, but it took a nick off Patrice Evra's head and flew into the opposite corner. West Ham tried to respond and Manuel Lanzini's low cross almost picked out Cresswell in the centre, but Ederson stuck out an arm to push the ball away. Fernandinho fired low and wide of the left hand post with 22 minutes on the clock, and the visitors continued to dominate possession, doubling the lead on 27 minutes with another helping hand from the hosts. This time Kevin de Bruyne got in down the right, taking advantage of some defensive indecision after Adrian initally had to come out of his goal to deny Raheem Sterling, to fire across goal and into the net via unfortunate touches from Declan Rice and Zabaleta. It looked to be a long way back from there for the Hammers, but they gave themselves a lifeline three minutes before the break. In truth, they should have had a penalty when Ilkay Gundogan upended Edimilson Fernandes right in the corner of the penalty area. The Swiss' momentum took him outside of the box and referee Neil Swarbrick only awarded a free-kick, but no matter as up stepped Cresswell to curl inside Ederson's near post. However, the lifeline was only to last until eight minutes after the break, as City restored their two-goal lead. Sterling was too rapid for Cresswell down the right flank, reaching Jesus' searching through ball and waiting for the Brazilian to arrive in the middle before cutting back for him to take a touch and slot home.
Sterling was proving too hot to handle on the right and he almost added a fourth just past the hour when he ran onto Jesus' pass but was denied by Adrian as he came to meet him on the edge of the box. When the fourth did arrive on 64 minutes it was far too easy for the visitors. Manuel Lanzini was caught on the ball inside his half, and quick as a flash Sterling was away again to pick out Fernandinho for a simple finish.

West Ham United: Adrian, Rice, Ogbonna, Evra (Masuaku 66), Zabaleta, Noble (c), Kouyate, Cresswell, Lanzini (Chicharito 66), Fernandes (Joao Mario 66), Arnautovic
Subs: Trott, Cullen, Hugill, Carroll
Goal: Cresswell 42

Manchester City: Ederson, Walker (Danilo 61), Otamendi, Laporte, Delph, Fernandinho (c), Gundogan (Toure 71), Sterling, de Bruyne, Sane, Jesus (Nmecha 79)
Subs: Bravo, Mendy, Foden, B Silva
Goals: Sane 12, Zabaleta og 27, Jesus 53, Fernandinho 64
Booked: Otamendi

Referee: Neil Swarbrick

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Ladies' unbeaten run comes to an end in Lewes defeat
WHUFC.com

West Ham United Ladies' unbeaten run came to an end against Lewes in the FA Women's Premier League on Sunday as they went down 2-1 to their Sussex opponents. The Hammers dominated the first period and took the lead within six minutes when Kelly Wealthall slotted home from close range. And despite Karen Ray's outfit continuing their authority as the second half began and had a succession of chances, however two Lewes goals – courtesy of Katie McIntyre and Amy Taylor – turned the game on its head. It was the perfect start for West Ham when they had the ball in the net and looked on their way to a 14th successive game without a defeat. Ellie Zoepfl was sent in on goal, and when her first attempt cannoned back off goalkeeper Faye Baker, the Players' Player of the Season was able to lift the ball into the box where Wealthall was waiting to tap home. Just after the quarter-of-an-hour mark, there was a golden chance for the No9 to grab a second. Once again sent in on goal by Zoepfl, the forward struck towards goal but Baker, getting something on it, was able to prevent it crossing the line as Lewes scrambled the ball clear. Eight minutes before the break, Zoepfl – who was at the heart of everything the Hammers were doing well – powered down the right-hand-side, but when her cross was slid along the six-yard-line, nobody in Claret and Blue was able to poke in for two. Four minutes into the second period, it looked as if the hosts would go on to grab a second and kill the game, but skipper Rosie Kmita, picked out by Amber Stobbs, saw Baker block her low, goal-bound attempt.
Chances were few and far between, though West Ham saw more of the ball – that was until the 64th minute when the equaliser came. Katie McIntyre, Lewes' captain, received the ball on the left-hand-side 30 yards from goal before shifting it onto her right foot and smashing over Cara Connatser's head from distance to make it 1-1. The Hammers were made to wait for an opportunity to get themselves back in front, but it came ten minutes later. It was again Wealthall, played in by Stobbs, causing the danger, but her left-footed attempt but snuffed out. With 80 minutes on the clock, Zoepfl was gifted a great chance to snatch the lead, but she could only send her free header over the crossbar from Molly Clark's corner kick. And further frustration for West Ham set in with five minutes to go as Lewes bagged what would eventually turn out to be the winner. A mix-up at the back between Connatser and her defenders saw substitute Taylor pounce, as she slotted into an empty net to send the visitors wild. More misery was yet in store for West Ham as Andria Georgiou, booked earlier in the second half for a seemingly nothing challenge, was given her marching orders having received a second yellow card. The Hammers could not conjure up one last chance after that and their unbeaten run came to an end as the referee's full-time whistle sounded.

West Ham United Ladies: Connatser; Mackie, Wheeler, Austin, Auguste; Georgiou, Clark, Stobbs; Zoepfl, Wealthall, Kmita
Subs not used: Chong, Maybe, Sampson
Goals: Wealthall 6

Lewes Ladies: Baker, Thompson, Waine, McCarthy, Wells, Carleton, McIntyre, Owen (Bridges 70), Bergin (Rowbotham 86), Lane, Carter (Taylor 70)
Subs not used: Goldsmid, Newton
Goals: McIntyre 64, Taylor 85

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Moyes: They're the champions, but we needed to be better
WHUFC.com

David Moyes admitted he was disappointed that his West Ham United team were unable to stretch Premier League champions Manchester City to the degree they managed at Eithad Stadium earlier this season, when they fell to a 4-1 defeat on Sunday afternoon. A brace of goals in either half for the visitors, either side of Aaron Cresswell's free-kick, were more than enough for a 30th victory of a dominant Premier League season as Pep Guardiola's men continue to hunt down a number of records. Moyes conceded that at their best City are hard to touch but felt he could have seen more from his side. He also knows that he will need to see them step back up again to secure the three points which would go a long way to securing Premier League football again in 2018/19. "They were very good, as we expected and as they have shown all season, and we weren't very good at all," the manager said. "I hoped we'd have done much better, but I have to say Man City have done this to better teams than us this season. "Manchester City make it very difficult for you, they make the pitch very big and they get players in positions you hope they wouldn't be. They're slick, they're quick and that's why the champions, but we didn't play as well as we could have done. "Things need to go for you a little bit when you play them. Generally we didn't do as well as we did against them at the Etihad earlier this season, we didn't defend as well as we've done against the bigger teams this season, so for those reasons we didn't really get a grip on the game. "We're above the dotted line and we've got games coming up where we've got chances to win. We'll obviously have to play better than we did [today], but I think we've got enough in the bag to win a game. We have to prove that."

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Cresswell: We can't afford to dwell on City defeat
WHUFC.com

Aaron Cresswell's first goal in over two years came as little consolation for the Hammers defender as his side went down to a second 4-1 defeat in succession on Sunday. Premier League champions Manchester City proved too strong for the east Londoners at London Stadium, scoring twice either side of the England international's free-kick to leave the Hammers still in search of the points they need to secure Premier League safety. Cresswell's curled effort past Ederson gave the Hammers hope as they headed into the interval, and although the Citizens soon re-established their authority, he says the hosts cannot afford to dwell on Sunday's game as they head into their crucial three remaining fixtures, starting at Leicester next weekend. "We can't dwell on today," the No3 said. "We knew coming into the game that it was going to be tough, but certainly there's never a good time to concede four goals. Our focus now is on Leicester this Saturday.
"We contributed to our own downfall a bit, we conceded two sloppy goals in the first half and then Marko's goal should maybe have been allowed. "We got it back to 2-1, and the mood changes for us, but we concede early on in the second half again and the game's pretty much over. "They're certainly the best side I've ever come up against, but we'll dust ourselves off and get a good week in ahead of Leicester."

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EFFORT AND APPLICATION-THAT IS ALL WE ASK FOR!
AUTHOR: EXWHUEMPLOYEE. PUBLISHED: 29 APRIL 2018 AT 9:57PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
Written by Alan Measom

Effort and application. Those 2 things are all we ask for from our team and today we didn't see either of them. I'm just watching match of the day and I'm seeing West Brom, Palace, Stoke, Huddersfield and Southampton all playing for their managers and their own survival.

We don't have rubbish players, despite what Moyes said after the game today about not having the quality. When we played our last season at Upton Park, these players were immense, you can use the spirit of the Boleyn rubbish if you like but they are capable of so much more.

Remember when we were linked with Hodgson and people were scoffing saying we don't want Woy? I'd take him over Moyes any day now, wouldn't you? He has their flair players, playing for him and each other.

Remember when Moyes came in to a fanfare of quotes "if you don't train you won't play" "if you don't run you won't play" I think a lot of us focused on the strong coaching team of Moyes, Irvine, Pearce and McKinley, I really like Stuart Pearce as a player and a man but not as a coach. How can we have had Dicks and Pearce as coaches but yet still can't defend?

The hard man status doesn't wash with me and I couldn't care if we had a quiet, retiring, non masculine manager, I just want us to be committed and try. That's it.

What I can't understand is the contradiction from the board, Moyes is their preferred choice but he has benched our top earner Hernandez and if Moyes stays, Javier goes, how are we going to feel if he goes to Everton, Spurs, Burnley etc and bangs in 20
Goals? The board have invested 15m on Javier and another near 8m in wages. Just doesn't make sense.

So Leicester next, a team fresh off a thrashing at palace with nothing to play for, cue them grinding out at least a point at home against us. COYI

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#REFWATCH: NEIL SWARBRICK – WEST HAM VS MANCHESTER CITY
AUTHOR: SAMTWHWREF. PUBLISHED: 29 APRIL 2018 AT 5:33PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
Written by @SamRoyden

WEST HAM AND NEIL SWARBRICK SHARE THE LIMELIGHT AFTER A CALAMITY OF ERRORS
The London Stadium has become a cauldron of disappointment for West Ham since moving from Upton Park with the board's, so far, incompetence to fulfil the promises. £26 million net has put the club three points above the relegation zone with the worst defence in the league thus far this season. Luckily for the team of refereeing officials who were appointed for this fixture, the limelight of multiple errors that the referee official team endured was overshadowed by the half heartless, lack of effort and pride of the West Ham players conceding four goals, of which two own-goals pushed Manchester City's goals to 102 for the season.

THE STANDARD OF REFEREEING IS DEPLETING IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE
With the current standard of refereeing in the Premier League over the last five years, it's no surprise that FIFA didn't recognise any English FA referees for the World Cup in Russia. I've always said, controversially some would say, that Mark Clattenburg was the best referee to officiate in the Premier League since Howard Webb. Since Clattenburg left to take up a post as Head of Refereeing for the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, only Michael Oliver, Martin Atkinson and Andre Marriner in my opinion have stepped up to the plate.

Neil Swarbrick and his team did not cover themselves in glory at all throughout the game, with some really poor decision making. During the first half, West Ham gave too much respect to Manchester City and to quote Lee Clayton, "I don't mind a guard of honour. City are a team who deserve it. What I don't think I've ever seen is a guard of honour lasting 90 minutes".

Nicolás Otamendi has the tendency to get himself into troubling situations and he was very lucky not to be sent off in the first half after two separate fouls on Manuel Lanzini. The first challenge was a nasty challenge on the West Ham's Argentinian leaving the midfielder in a heap and fully deserved to receive a caution for his troubles. With West Ham showing some fight at the end of the second half, Manuel Lanzini was progressing positively into City's half with an unnecessarily body checking by Nicolás Otamendi preventing a rare West Ham attack. Neil Swarbrick was in the perfect position to see that Otamendi did not make any attempt to win or play the ball. Granted, not every foul is considered to be a cautionable offence but in my opinion, there wasn't any genuine attempt to win Otamendi as Lanzini was going to be quick enough to pass the Manchester City defender.

Marko Arnautović was denied his 11th goal of the season after Swarbrick penalised the Austrian for man handling Ederson before passing the ball into the net. I think Swarbrick did get this one right but Ederson did make a meal of it which ultimately made Swarbrick's decision.

A FIRST HALF TO FORGET FOR THE SWARBRICK AND HIS ASSISTANT REFEREE
The calamities kept coming in the first half for the unfortunate linesman who was patrolling Manchester City's defensive line after failing to spot an offside, which led to missing a clear penalty on Edimilson Fernandes. Obviously if the assistant referee got the offside correct, he wouldn't have needed to be in a position to miss the penalty but as he got it wrong, it's worth clearing them up. I thought that the assistant was in a good position to see across Manchester City's last defender, with Edison in the City goal, and naturally the elite referees are experienced enough especially with Manchester City's defence so high. This clearly wasn't the case as the lapse in judgement sent West Ham on the attack. 30 seconds later, Edimilson Fernandes found himself back to goal inside the area with a Manchester City player clipping his heel, falling outside the penalty area. I appreciate that the game is quick but it's obvious that his planted foot which received the contact was inside or at minimum on the 18 yard line. The 18 yard line is considered to be the penalty area so any foul made on the white line is considered to be inside the area.

There were multiple mistakes on this decision:

The assistant referee was more interested to watch the Manchester City defenders even though his position was 5 yards in front of them to ensure that he could see the line of defence
Neil Swarbrick had taken up a position, running away from goal even though West Ham had possession. I know that position for a referee is important to anticipate the next phase of play, particularly with teams that break fast, but looking over your shoulder at a decision will not give you the best view.
Due to Neil Swarbrick's position, his view was compromised by Manuel Lanzini's position which again, the referee's position should have been better.

THERE WAS NO STOPPING MANCHESTER CITY TO 102 SEASON GOALS
Manchester City ran riot in the second half with two additional goals to add to their tally for the season and the officiating team missed another penalty but this time it was for Manchester City. Raheem Sterling has been in the headlines this season for being overdramatic diving in the penalty area. I can assure you on this occasion that Raheem Sterling deserves to feel aggrieved after Arron Cresswell caught both of the Englishman's ankles when going to ground to challenge for the ball. Again, it's was a ridiculous decision — if Neil Swarbrick thought there was no contact and it was a dive, why did he not caution Sterling? If Neil Swarbrick thought there was contact, why didn't he award the penalty? Why didn't the assistant referee who would have been in align with Cresswell help with the decision? Nevertheless, it's was a poor decision whatever way you look at it and this summed up the game for Neil Swarbrick and his officiating team.

NEIL SWARBRICK'S PERFORMANCE RATING – 4/10

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West Ham Utd 1-4 Manchester City
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 29th April 2018
By: Staff Writer

West Ham conceded three goals or more for the NINTH time since David Moyes succeeded Slaven Bilic as manager, as they fell to yet another demoralising heavy defeat at home. City were made to wait just 13 minutes before taking the lead via a huge deflection off Angelo Ogbonna's back - a lead that was doubled on 27 minutes when Declan Rice inadvertently turned a low centre into his own net.
West Ham showed brief signs of life in the closing stages of the first half and halved the deficit through a well-executed Aaron Cresswell free kick, seconds after Marko Arnautovic was denied what should have been a penalty. However the second half proved to be a walk in the (Olympic) park for the visitors, who added goals from Gabriel Jesus and Fernandinho to secure a not particularly-flattering 4-1 win.

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David Moyes to 'deal with' Andy Carroll's early departure from West Ham bench
By Oliver Yew
Last Updated: 29/04/18 8:53pm
SSN

David Moyes says despite playing an incredible Manchester City side, West Ham were not at their best following their 4-1 defeat. David Moyes will look into the incident that saw Andy Carroll leave the substitutes' bench before the end of the game during West Ham's 4-1 defeat to Manchester City. Moyes made a triple substitution in the 65th minute when the Hammers were already 4-1 down, bringing on Javier Hernandez, Joao Mario and Arthur Masuaku, leaving Carroll as an unused substitute. The frustrated striker then left the bench to go inside and Moyes says he will deal with the situation. "It's something I'll deal with," the West Ham boss told Sky Sports. "In this situation what you need is everybody to be a team member so if he has done that, I'll look at it and I'll deal with it." Moyes saw his side comprehensively beaten at the London Stadium as City racked up a century of Premier League goals to ensure West Ham remained in the relegation fight.
Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus and Fernandinho were on target, while Pablo Zabaleta scored an own goal against his old club, as Pep Guardiola's side cruised to a record-equalling 30th victory of the campaign, and Moyes was full of praise for the title winners. They were very good," he said. "It's what we expected and they've shown it all season. "However, we weren't very good at all. I hope we'd have done much better but I have to say Manchester City have done this to better teams than us this season. "They make the pitch very big, they've got players in positions you'd hope you wouldn't be and they're slick, they're quick and that's why they're champions. "Things need to go for you in these games. I didn't think we did as well as we did against them at the Etihad earlier in the season. "I didn't think we defended as well as we'd done against the bigger teams this season."
The defeat leaves the Hammers just three points above the relegation zone with three games to play, but Moyes thinks his side still has enough quality to beat the drop. "When we came in we were below it, we're now above it and I think we've got games coming up where we've got chances to win," he said. "We'll obviously have to play better than we're doing just now but I think we've got enough in the bag to win a game but we have to prove it."

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Alan Shearer slams 'lazy' West Ham performance at home to Manchester City: 'I don't think it was anywhere near good enough'
Alan Shearer criticised the performance by the West Ham players on Sunday
The Hammers were beaten 4-1 by Premier League champions Manchester City
West Ham are just three points above relegation zone with three games to go
By Kate Mcgreavy For Mailonline
PUBLISHED: 00:20, 30 April 2018 | UPDATED: 00:28, 30 April 2018

Alan Shearer has slammed West Ham's performance in their 4-1 home defeat by Manchester City on Sunday. David Moyes' side found themselves behind within the opening 13 minutes when Leroy Sane's deflected effort beat goalkeeper Adrian. An own-goal by Pablo Zabaleta doubled City's lead and although Aaron Cresswell pulled a goal back for the Hammers before half-time, goals from Gabriel Jesus and Fernandinho secured a comfortable victory for the Premier League champions.BBC Match of the Day pundit Shearer criticised the performance by the West Ham players on the programme on Sunday night. 'I thought they robbed their fans today, I really did,' he said. 'Yes Manchester City are an excellent side. You've got to try and make teams earn their points and I don't think West Ham did that today at all. 'I think they were lazy, I think there was a complete lack of effort other than five minutes towards the end of the first half did they put up a bit of a fight. 'I think they turned up expecting to be beaten and be beaten badly. 'I don't think that performance was anywhere near good enough.'
Following Sunday's defeat, West Ham are just three points above the relegation zone with three games remaining.

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Moyes press conference: every word as West Ham boss blames Lanzini & being thumped by Man City
Here is what the manager had to say after the 4-1 trouncing at the hands of the champions
Football London
By Sam Inkersole
West Ham Correspondent

You gave them something to think about at half time but their quality showed in the end
Not much to think about. They were far better than us, outstandingly good. We didn't do well enough from the start but we found a way of getting back into it just before half time. But overall, I can't have any complaints on the way they [City] played. They were excellent. We didn't defend as well as we have done against the other big teams this season, we just didn't do as well filling in the box, stopping things as maybe what we had done in other games.

Triple substitutions are pretty rare, was that out of necessity or a message?

I was unfortunate I didn't get it done before the fourth goal went in. At the time, I just think we needed to freshen up, we were struggling. Even if we put on five subs I don't know it would have made that much difference they were so good at keeping the ball. So we couldn't get close enough to them throughout the game and I think more importantly it was to say look, we'll make the changes and see if we can keep at it and not concede any more goals.

Booed for taking Manuel Lanzini off, reaction?

Yeah totally accept it. But everybody should look at the fourth goal, and then they'll maybe see why. The players here have got to understand, we play players to keep the ball, to defend. Manu had a great chance to keep the ball for us and we end up losing the fourth goal for it. But hey, no problem – it happens.

Had you made the decision before that goal?

Yes I had. You must be a little anxious about the teams behind you? I'm not as anxious as when I came in, because we were in the bottom three then. So the big job is to stay out the bottom three, we've got three games to go. In the main our form at the stadium here has been pretty good, up until today we'd won three, drawn three and lost one. I'm hoping that one of those games we can take points and we go to Leicester next week, so if we can turn one of those into a win then we'll be okay.

The fans seemed to accept the result, City too good?

Yeah I think everybody is in full appreciation of what Man City can do to you. I want to challenge them and I wanted to do better than I done today, so I'm disappointed overall with it, we didn't do better and the next time I play them I'll try and do something different to beat them but it's difficult.

Suggestions the decision has been made not to sign Hart?

That's false information because nothing will be decided until safety is secured. That's incorrect information.

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