Jacob Steinberg's match report
Right then, I’m off. Here’s PA Media’s report on the game:
Michail Antonio snatched another victory for West Ham and denied former boss Sam Allardyce a precious point towards West Brom’s survival bid.
Antonio, who scored the only goal of the game against Burnley at the weekend, struck again as the Hammers climbed to seventh following a 2-1 win. West Ham led through Jarrod Bowen but were pegged back by Matheus Pereira, Albion’s double-penalty hero in the win at Wolves which had reignited Allardyce’s rescue mission.
Robert Snodgrass had impressed in that 3-2 victory but eyebrows were raised before kick-off when it emerged the player, who left West Ham to join the Baggies a fortnight ago, had been left out due to an “agreement” between the clubs. The Premier League is understood to be looking into the matter.
The Scottish midfielder was instead forced to sit in the stands and watch a distinctly forgettable first half. As usual Allardyce, back at the club he led to promotion in 2012, set out his side to respect the point and West Ham, again relying solely on Antonio in attack, initially lacked the nous to break them down.
Hammers defender Craig Dawson should have opened the scoring against his former side but planted a free header wide at the far post from a corner. The first half was meandering towards a goalless conclusion when, in stoppage time, Vladimir Coufal burst into the area from the right. The Czech full-back drilled in a cross which Bowen, with little time to react, managed to divert in with his chest from four yards out.
Early in the second half Lukasz Fabianski kept out Conor Gallagher’s angled shot, but moments later the Poland keeper was beaten. West Ham’s defence backed off Pereira as he reached the edge of the box and the Brazilian winger made them pay with a low shot which arrowed into the bottom corner. Gallagher was in an offside position as the ball whistled past him but VAR deemed the midfielder was not interfering with play.
West Ham went in search of a winner and Manuel Lanzini’s close-range effort was headed off the line by Dara O’Shea before Declan Rice’s cross trickled along an empty goalmouth with no one able to get a touch.
The winning goal arrived in the 65th minute when Aaron Cresswell crossed, substitute Andriy Yarmolenko headed back across goal and Antonio hooked the ball over the line. The Baggies had chances to equalise again but Gallagher’s shot was too close to Fabianski and Darnell Furlong volleyed wide.
Sam Allardyce says there are positives to take from the game:
We came here to [get points] and follow on from picking up points at Wolves. I think it’s a great effort from the players but there are lapses in concentration at the back and we’ve conceded goals we probably could have avoided. One 10 seconds from the end of the first half. And then a really great response, came out, started playing and passing the ball much better, got ourselves a great goal. We lost the game because ultimately West Ham’s final ball was better than ours today.
I think everybody’s seen a difference in what the players are doing. The fact of the matter is we contained West Ham who are on a good run, and we limited them to very little, but that lapse of concentration again [meant] we didn’t go in at half-time at 0-0. We just have to get better in concentration in those moments, and we’ve got to stop letting goals in. We’ve conceded more goals than anybody else in the Premier League, and we’re working hard to stop that.
He’s asked again about the agreement not to play Snodgrass:
I’m not going to answer that. If the Premier League want to know about it they can contact us privately. It’s not my big worry at the moment though, whatever the Premier League do or don’t think.
David Moyes is chirpy:
It wasn’t our best performance, but it keeps a small run going. We’re growing in how we play, what we do. I’d have liked to have played better tonight, but I’m not disappointed to take three points, that’s for sure. I’d like to dream a lot but we’re also very humble and we’re not going to start shouting about things too soon, because history has shown we can’t always back that up. We’re making progress, we’re picking up points. I don’t see this being where I want to be or where I want the players to be, I want us to be competing at the top end. Sometimes you’ve got to win ugly and tonight we won ugly but we got there.
On transfers he says there’s nobody on the radar currently, and that “we don’t want to bring people in here who we regret doing”.
David Moyes' West Ham have only got two fewer points from the first half of a PL season than David Moyes' Manchester United got (34 in 2013-14).
— Richard Jolly (@RichJolly) January 19, 2021
I really worry for Big Sam’s beloved unrelegated record, though his players haven’t been fully BigSammed yet, I suppose, and the transfer window remains open. For now they look short on quality at both ends, even if it took a really superb bit of finishing to beat them tonight in a game of few clear chances. Talking of superb finishing, Michail Antonio has had a chat with BT Sport:
We’ve started the season well. We’re on 32 points in the league, last season we finished on 39. Each game we’re giving 100%, we’ve got another win, we just keep going, keep pushing on. As a striker you want to be out there, you want to play, you want to score goals, and that’s what I’m doing right now. It’s unbelievable. This season the chemistry is so good in the squad and you’re seeing it on the pitch. The thing is, we’re not playing at our best. We’re managing to just get wins. Things are looking good but the fact is we’re not at our best and we can be better.
Here’s the league table, which shows West Ham in seventh, just three points from second, and West Brom in 19th, fully five points from 17th (with two games out of hand).
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man Utd | 18 | 10 | 37 |
| 2 | Man City | 17 | 16 | 35 |
| 3 | Leicester | 18 | 12 | 35 |
| 4 | Liverpool | 18 | 16 | 34 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 18 | 16 | 33 |
| 6 | Everton | 17 | 7 | 32 |
| 7 | West Ham | 19 | 5 | 32 |
| 8 | Chelsea | 18 | 12 | 29 |
| 9 | Southampton | 18 | 5 | 29 |
| 10 | Arsenal | 19 | 4 | 27 |
| 11 | Aston Villa | 15 | 13 | 26 |
| 12 | Leeds | 18 | -4 | 23 |
| 13 | Crystal Palace | 19 | -11 | 23 |
| 14 | Wolverhampton | 19 | -8 | 22 |
| 15 | Newcastle | 18 | -12 | 19 |
| 16 | Brighton | 19 | -7 | 17 |
| 17 | Burnley | 17 | -13 | 16 |
| 18 | Fulham | 17 | -11 | 12 |
| 19 | West Brom | 19 | -28 | 11 |
| 20 | Sheff Utd | 19 | -22 | 5 |
Final score: West Ham United 2-1 West Bromwich Albion
90+5 mins: It’s launched into the area, Bartley flicks on, Fabianski collects, and that is the end of the game!
90+4 mins: Robson-Kanu wins a free-kick on the halfway line. West Brom get a last throw of the dice.
90+3 mins: Gallagher goes down in the penalty area as Yarmolenko comes across, but the referee spots that there was no contact whatsoever, and takes out his yellow card for the first time.
90+2 mins: West Brom win a free kick, a few yards beyond the halfway line. It’s sent high and long into the box, where Fabianski punches it off Bartley’s head. VAR checks whether he actually punches Bartley’s head, but he’s not guilty.
90+1 mins: There will be four minutes of stoppage time, or somesuch.
90 mins: What a chance! It’s a cross from Gibbs on the left, and Furlong runs in from the right and ghosts untracked into the middle, where he meets the ball 10 yards out and half-volleys just wide!
Updated
89 mins: West Ham are now defending more resolutely and breaking pretty badly when they do win the ball, giving West Brom multiple opportunities to not be rubbish.
86 mins: I’ve ignored another West Brom substitution, Robson-Kanu having replaced Livermore a few minutes ago. “How much do you think a player like Antonio would cost if he was five years younger and his hamstrings weren’t made of spaghetti?” wonders Oliver. “West Ham have a real job on their hands to find a younger upgrade within their budget, surely.” If anyone was both as good as Antonio and only 18, he and his club would soon be extremely wealthy.
83 mins: Antonio has done enough running about, and Noble is going to replace him.
82 mins: Some news on Snodgrass: the idea of forcing a buying club not to play a particular player in a particular match is expressly outlawed in Premier League regulations. They are investigating. Here is the regulation in question:
Club Contracts
I.7. No Club shall enter into a contract which enables any other party to that contract to acquire the ability materially to influence its policies or the performance of its teams in League Matches, any matches in the Professional Development Phase Games Programme or the Professional Development Leagues (as those terms are defined in the Youth Development Rules) or in any of the competitions set out in Rule L.9.
78 mins: Chance for West Brom! Furlong crosses from the right, Gibbs knockes it down at the far post, Gallagher hits across the ball in search of some swerve but at the expense of accuracy, and his shot goes straight to Fabianski.
77 mins: “No yellow cards in last night’s game and none so far tonight,” notes Richard Hirst. “Who’s gone soft, players or referees?” There have been nothing other than completely humdrum minor fouling here, giving the referee no chance at all to get his notebook out.
74 mins: A shooting chance for West Brom, from a free kick 30 yards or so from goal, but they pass it instead to Sawyers, who dances around a bit then gives it away. Incidentally, Furlong came on for Grosicki a couple of minutes back.
72 mins: West Ham win a free-kick on the left, which Cresswell sends infield. It comes off a defender and drops to nobody in particular. Soucek sees it, decides that maybe he can poke it, fall over and win a penalty. So he pokes it, falls over, and doesn’t win a penalty. He was on his way down before he was kicked, but I do think he was kicked.
69 mins: Antonio is absolutely priceless. He’ll play anywhere, doesn’t complain, looks decent wherever he’s put, can hold the ball up or chase it down, is fast but also really quite skilful, and finishes like a born predator. Here’s his goal:
It's that man Michail Antonio again for West Ham! 🎯
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) January 19, 2021
He scored the winner against Burnley and now he's put the Hammers ahead vs. West Brom...
A really clever finish! ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/Oy7s7cL0Px
GOAL! West Ham 2-1 West Brom (Antonio, 66 mins)
A good, deep cross from Cresswell, a header down from Yarmolenko, and an absolutely first-rate bit of finishing from Antonio, hooking the ball into the corner of goal when facing in entirely the wrong direction!
Updated
65 mins: Between the 46th minute and the 55th West Brom had 57% of possession and looked the more threatening side. Since then West Ham have had 65% of possession and taken complete ownership of the game.
62 mins: West Ham make a couple of substitutions, bringing Yarmolenko and Fornals on for Benrahma and Lanzini.
60 mins: Rice goes close again! West Ham win a free-kick 15 yards outside the penalty area, and Cresswell catches the Baggies’ defence snoozing with an early pass into Rice, who from an acute angle beats Johnstone but also the far post!
59 mins: Excellent clearance! Bowen touches the ball to Antonio, in the box but with his back to goal, so he lays back to Lanzini, whose shot was heading in until O’Shea somehow popped up and got a head on it. A few moments later Rice has a low, curling shot from 20 yards that skids a foot wide.
57 mins: Nothing comes of that corner, of the one West Ham win soon afterwards. Now level-pegging once again, the teams need to decide whether to stick or twist.
54 mins: West Brom have been well on top since the break, though without really threatening the goal until they went and scored. Now Grosicki finds space on the left, and his low pull-back is turned behind.
GOAL! West Ham 1-1 West Brom (Pereira, 51 mins)
West Ham, lulled into a false sense of security by West Brom’s complete awfulness over the previous 50 minutes, let Pereira run about 15 yards and then lash a low shot across goal and in at the far post!
Updated
49 mins: Gallagher tries to cross to Robinson but miscues sufficiently badly that it will go down as the visitors’ first shot on target.
48 mins: West Brom don’t seem exactly brimming with ideas. They half-heartedly counter-attack down the right, and although the home side only have their back four defending, with none of their midfielders except Rice very interested in helping out, they dawdle and eventually lose the ball.
46 mins: Peeeeep! The visitors get the second period under way.
The players are on their way out and nearly ready for half two. Control your excitement.
Key stat:
WBA haven't won a top-flight game on a Tuesday since May 1985 which was in between series 4&5 of Bullseye and now Bowen scores on 45 and you're saying I don't get a speedboat for that
— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) January 19, 2021
Half time: West Ham 1-0 West Brom
45+2 mins: And that’s half-time. It was by no means a good half, but that late goal has transformed the complexion of the match, and there’s now a chance that the rest of it might be reasonable.
Updated
GOAL! West Ham 1-0 West Brom (Bowen, 45+1 mins)
A GOAL! A GOAL HAS BEEN SCORED! BY SHOOTING! Benrahma’s high cross from the left floats over the entire area, is volleyed back across goal by Coufal, and Bowen chests it into the top corner from eight yards!
Updated
45 mins: Ajayi underhits a backpass from the left with Antonio on the prowl, and Bartley does well to anticipate and cut off the danger before the West Ham striker can run clear on goal.
43 mins: The Baggies break, Robinson sends in a low cross from the left, and Fabianski does well to claim it.
42 mins: Bowen has pushed way infield, helping out Antonio a bit there and getting a few more touches as a result. Then he goes back wide, twists and turns a bit before hitting a cross that briefly looks dangerous, and then stops looking dangerous when a defender intercepts.
42 mins: Bowen just touched the ball.
41 mins: Another shot on target, the second of the night. Benrahma has it, twisting Gallagher around like a string of spaghetti before spearing a 20-yarder straight at Johnstone.
41 mins: Bowen just touched the ball.
39 mins: A cross! West Brom cross the ball! Fabianski catches the ball.
35 mins: Lanzini takes it, curling the ball over wall and bar.
34 mins: Antonio goes sprawling on the edge of the West Brom area after Ajayi tries and fails to nick the ball off his toes, and West Ham have themselves a tasty set-piece-based shooting chance.
Updated
31 mins: Robinson collects the ball, plays a nice one-two with Gallagher, and shoots high and wide from 20 yards.
30 mins: A build-up full of ricochets and missteps, as well as a decent shimmy from Antonio on the left, ends with Bowen being caught offside before he turns and shoots wide.
28 mins: Bowen just touched the ball.
26 mins: West Brom launch another free-kick into the West Ham area from deep. Ajayi flicks it on, Robinson runs onto it, and Dawson does well to cut out his attempted cross back towards Ajayi.
25 mins: Jarrod Bowen is running around a lot but has hardly touched the ball yet. Apparently he has made three passes so far, and Kieran Gibbs seems to have him in his pocket.
24 mins: Lanzini hits a first-time left-foot shot from the edge of the box, which loops to Johnstone.
22 mins: A shot! Coufal runs onto the ball, coming infield from the right, chests it down and has an effort from the edge of the area that’s deflected wide.
19 mins: A long throw from West Brom is sent into the area, headed out, sent back in and finally turned towards his own goal by Ogbonna. Quite a good effort on goal, definitely the best of the night so far, and well saved by Fabianski, who must have been surprised that the ball was flying towards him.
17 mins: Soucek’s cross is chested back to Johnstone by O’Shea before Benrahma can get to it. We’re still waiting for a moment of genuine on-the-ball attacking quality.
15 mins: Sam Allardyce is looking quite dapper in an entirely black-or-dark-grey shirt-tie-jacket-coat-trouser combo. He’s an unlikely fashion icon, is Big Sam, but after the weekend’s two-colour scarf he seems to be having a go. David Moyes is wearing a club tracksuit.
Updated
12 mins: Grosicki and Coufal go up for a header. Grosicki heads the ball; Coufal heads Grosicki’s elbow; West Ham get a free kick.
9 mins: Another long free-kick is lifted into the West Ham box, and again Antonio wins the header. The game so far has been about the winning and taking of restarts, which I suppose is not entirely surprising.
8 mins: West Ham win a corner, which dips onto the head of Dawson, near the far corner of the six-yard box and completely unmarked, but he’s back-pedalling and his header goes wide.
6 mins: Robinson wins a free-kick near the halfway line, which is lifted into the area, half-cleared by Antonio and then Bowen completes the job by winning a free-kick (which is a much too easy thing for defending players to do these days, and really irritates me, but that’s another story).
3 mins: A slightly imprecise start from all involved ends with Grosicki playing the ball in an entirely opposite direction to the one Robinson’s running in. Goal kick.
Updated
1 min: Bong! It’s football o’clock!
Out come the players! It is four minutes to football o’clock.
Updated
A photograph that makes Manuel Lanzini look absolutely tiny:
The two managers have a chat. First, David Moyes:
I think momentum in football in general is very good. I’ll take a win no matter how it comes, but we want to keep up the form if we can.
There you go, big stuff there. Now, on dropping Fornals and bringing in Lanzini:
I thought it was just right. We’ve got two or three players who’ve been showing some good form and Manuel’s one. With the number of games we’ve got at this present time, we thought we’d put him in.
Then Sam Allardyce on the return of Sam Johnstone:
It’s obviously quite a difficult one, but I think Sam’s record speaks for itself. Even before I came everybody talked about how outstanding he’s been. At the moment he’s the No1 goalkeeper here. Button stepped in and did brilliantly, but at the moment Sam’s the first choice.
And on the absence of Snodgrass:
That was an agreement between the clubs, that this game he wouldn’t be allowed to play. If we needed to get the player which we did, we had to agree to that.
Updated
According to the Express & Star, the only way West Brom could prise Snodgrass from West Ham’s clammy grasp before this match was played was to agree that he wouldn’t play in it.
West Ham make one change to the team that beat Burnley, with Lanzini coming in and Fornals dropping to the bench.
West Brom bring back Johnstone in goal after a Covid-related absence and Gallagher after suspension, and drop Button and Snodgrass, whose unexpected and complete absence was presumably agreed before his move between the clubs earlier this month.
The teams!
The team sheets are in, and tonight’s star turns will be:
West Ham: Fabianski, Coufal, Dawson, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Soucek, Rice, Bowen, Lanzini, Benrahma, Antonio. Subs: Balbuena, Yarmolenko, Alves, Noble, Fornals, Diop, Fredericks, Johnson, Randolph.
West Brom: Johnstone, O’Shea, Ajayi, Bartley, Gibbs, Livermore, Sawyers, Matheus Pereira, Gallagher, Grosicki, Robinson. Subs: Furlong, Robson-Kanu, Krovinovic, Ivanovic, Edwards, Peltier, Kipre, Button, Field.
Referee: Scott Graham.
Here's our team to take on @WBA... ⚒#WHUWBA
— West Ham United (@WestHam) January 19, 2021
📋 Here’s our Starting XI for tonight’s game at London Stadium. COYB! 🟢🟡@MonsterEnergy | #WHUWBA
— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) January 19, 2021
Hello world!
The West derby, then! It must be said that Sam Allardyce wasn’t exactly encouraging when he spoke about this match the other day, insisting that “West Ham is now about trying to come off the pitch undefeated. We can’t go down and say ‘we’re going to win’ in the position we are in.” This sounds distressingly like a coach planning to kill the game and escape with a point to me. Allardyce of course managed West Ham to promotion in 2012 - “I’m glad you said that, that they’re in the Premier League because of me. It’s nice to see them maintain that position and trying to improve on it. It was a job well done and going back can only be a joy to me if we get a result.” - before eventually being sacked and replaced by Slaven Bilic, who was himself sacked by West Brom and replaced by Allardyce. The nation’s managers are, as ever, captive on the carousel of time.
West Brom’s win at Wolves on Saturday was their first away from home this season, and only their second in the league. West Ham have won their last three in all competitions (all of them 1-0) and have lost only to Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal since the dismal but unrepresentative (for both teams) opening-day defeat to Newcastle, so will hope to wrestle their way through Allardyce’s shackles. “We want to win games and we want to keep moving forward,” says David Moyes. Fingers crossed, eh?
