Soccer Football - Premier League - Stoke City vs West Ham United - bet365 Stadium, Stoke-On-Trent, Britain - December 16, 2017 West Ham United's Marko Arnautovic celebrates scoring their second goal Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith
Dec 16 (Reuters) - STOKE CITY 0 WEST HAM UNITED 3
West Ham United continued their Premier League resurgence under new manager David Moyes with a 3-0 victory at Stoke City to move clear of the relegation places on Saturday, with Marko Arnautovic scoring against his old club.
The kickoff was delayed because of a power outage at the bet365 Stadium, and it was West Ham who switched on quicker and took the lead with Mark Noble's penalty.
Soccer Football - Premier League - Stoke City vs West Ham United - bet365 Stadium, Stoke-On-Trent, Britain - December 16, 2017 West Ham United's Diafra Sakho scores their third goal REUTERS/Andrew Yates
West Ham defended solidly thereafter and Arnautovic, who joined the London club in the summer, wrapped up the points in the 76th minute having twice been denied by the woodwork.
Diafra Sakho gave the scoreline a slightly flattering look with a third goal for the visitors in the 87th minute.
Stoke have managed only one win in eight games and their recent luck was summed up within the space of a minute in the first half.
Soccer Football - Premier League - Stoke City vs West Ham United - bet365 Stadium, Stoke-On-Trent, Britain - December 16, 2017 West Ham United's Mark Noble celebrates scoring their first goal from the penalty spot REUTERS/Andrew Yates
Skipper Ryan Shawcross headed against the post from Xherdan Shaqiri's cross and West Ham then broke with Manuel Lanzini drawing a foul in the box from Erik Pieters.
It appeared to be a harsh decision and Stoke boss Mark Hughes accused Lanzini of diving. Even Moyes felt the decision was dubious but Noble made no mistake from the spot, shortly before his 300th appearance was curtailed by injury.
"The defender gave the referee a decision to make. Manuel Lanzini ran about 70 yards so I think he went over with fatigue rather than a dive," Moyes said. "I'd be disappointed to give away a penalty like that but sometimes that's the way it goes."
Soccer Football - Premier League - Stoke City vs West Ham United - bet365 Stadium, Stoke-On-Trent, Britain - December 16, 2017 Stoke City's Ramadan Sobhi in action with West Ham United's Pablo Zabaleta Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith
Stoke huffed and puffed but West Ham always looked likely to score again and Austria international Arnautovic, booed all game by the Stoke fans, combined with Lanzini in the 75th minute to score from close range.
With seven points from their last three games under Moyes, West Ham moved up to 15th with 17 points, above Stoke who are now only one point above the bottom three having conceded nine goals in three games.
"We're in this position. Maybe we've got some clarity now. We're better than what we're doing at the moment. We need to get ourselves out of our situation," Hughes said.
Soccer Football - Premier League - Stoke City vs West Ham United - bet365 Stadium, Stoke-On-Trent, Britain - December 16, 2017 West Ham United's Marko Arnautovic scores their second goal Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith
"I don't want to be in a relegation battle. We need to recognise that and do something about it."
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar and Clare Fallon)
Soccer Football - Premier League - Stoke City vs West Ham United - bet365 Stadium, Stoke-On-Trent, Britain - December 16, 2017 Stoke City's Ramadan Sobhi in action with West Ham United's Pablo Zabaleta REUTERS/Andrew Yates Soccer Football - Premier League - Stoke City vs West Ham United - bet365 Stadium, Stoke-On-Trent, Britain - December 16, 2017 Stoke City's Ramadan Sobhi shoots at goal as West Ham United's Pablo Zabaleta and James Collins attempt to block REUTERS/Andrew Yates Soccer Football - Premier League - Stoke City vs West Ham United - bet365 Stadium, Stoke-On-Trent, Britain - December 16, 2017 Stoke City's Mame Biram Diouf in action with West Ham United's Aaron Cresswell Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith Soccer Football - Premier League - Stoke City vs West Ham United - bet365 Stadium, Stoke-On-Trent, Britain - December 16, 2017 West Ham United's Marko Arnautovic gestures Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith Soccer Football - Premier League - Stoke City vs West Ham United - bet365 Stadium, Stoke-On-Trent, Britain - December 16, 2017 Stoke City manager Mark Hughes REUTERS/Andrew Yates Soccer Football - Premier League - Stoke City vs West Ham United - bet365 Stadium, Stoke-On-Trent, Britain - December 16, 2017 Stoke City's Ryan Shawcross in action with West Ham United's Angelo Ogbonna REUTERS/Andrew Yates Soccer Football - Premier League - Stoke City vs West Ham United - bet365 Stadium, Stoke-On-Trent, Britain - December 16, 2017 West Ham United's Mark Noble scores their first goal from the penalty spot REUTERS/Andrew Yates Soccer Football - Premier League - Stoke City vs West Ham United - bet365 Stadium, Stoke-On-Trent, Britain - December 16, 2017 West Ham United's Angelo Ogbonna in action with Stoke City's Saido Berahino REUTERS/Andrew Yates Soccer Football - Premier League - Stoke City vs West Ham United - bet365 Stadium, Stoke-On-Trent, Britain - December 16, 2017 Stoke City's Xherdan Shaqiri in action with West Ham United's Michail Antonio REUTERS/Andrew YatesSoccer Football - Premier League - Stoke City vs West Ham United - bet365 Stadium, Stoke-On-Trent, Britain - December 16, 2017 West Ham United's Marko Arnautovic celebrates scoring their second goal with team mates REUTERS/Andrew Yates Soccer Football - Premier League - Stoke City vs West Ham United - bet365 Stadium, Stoke-On-Trent, Britain - December 16, 2017 West Ham fans applaud Marko Arnautovic Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith Soccer Football - Premier League - Stoke City vs West Ham United - bet365 Stadium, Stoke-On-Trent, Britain - December 16, 2017 Stoke City's Saido Berahino looks dejected REUTERS/Andrew Yates Soccer Football - Premier League - Stoke City vs West Ham United - bet365 Stadium, Stoke-On-Trent, Britain - December 16, 2017 West Ham United's Marko Arnautovic applauds fans after he is substituted REUTERS/Andrew Yates Soccer Football - Premier League - Stoke City vs West Ham United - bet365 Stadium, Stoke-On-Trent, Britain - December 16, 2017 Stoke City manager Mark Hughes Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith
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