David Moyes has highlighted a “special” return to Goodison Park as being an important win for his West Ham side.
Everton were beaten 1-0 by the Hammers on New Year's Day thanks to a second half strike from Tomas Soucek, with the ball deflecting into the path of the midfielder inside the box after an Aaron Cresswell shot.
That brought a run of four straight victories to an end for Carlo Ancelotti's side who were left disappointed after the final whistle.
And Moyes was full of praise for the recent form of his former side as he highlighted just how good West Ham were in picking up all three points.
The boss told his post-match press conference: “I think always coming back to your old clubs is special.
“I had a brilliant time here, had great years, but I want to do it again at West Ham and that means going and winning at your other clubs.
“So coming tonight and winning the game here I think was really important.
“Everton are in a great moment, playing really well and getting really good results, they had a chance to go second tonight which would have been really important to them.
“I don't think you can underestimate what it would mean to Everton, we were on the back of our third game in six days.
“I couldn't praise the players enough, I think they've done an incredible job.
“We've come to Goodison and got a result which gives you an idea of how well the players have played there.
“I thought we had a really good performance, but without the ball and with the ball.
“We're coming away to Everton who have been having some great results recently, who were four unbeaten coming into today, and to get a result in our third game in six days I think says an awful lot about how the players are doing.”
