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By Sam Tonks
A brace from Manuel Lanzini and one from Player of the Year Marko Arnautovic ensured a winning end to the campaign for West Ham, in a 3-1 win over Everton.
A win against his old side for David Moyes and three brilliantly worked goals meant an enjoyable day for supporters at London Stadium.
West Ham started on the front foot with the lively front-three of Manuel Lanzini, Marko Arnautovic and Joao Mario linking up to cause early problems for Everton.
Everton lined up with a back-three to match West Ham but it couldn’t handle the pace and ingenuity of the Hammers front line.
Within the first five minutes both Lanzini and Arnautovic got in behind but the ball wouldn’t sit for either, but the warning signs were there for Sam Allardyce’s side.
The first clear opening of the game came on 11 minutes as Jordan Pickford made his case for an England starting place in Russia next month. Artur Masuaku galloped down the left wing and picked out Arnautovic who fired towards goal, but it was blocked.
But, Everton couldn’t clear and skipper Mark Noble kept the pressure on, playing a neat one-two with the Austrian forward, only to be thwarted superbly by Pickford.
It was the home side asking all the questions, the visitors were badly missing the likes of Theo Walcott, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Wayne Rooney from the starting eleven.
Their first sight of goal came following an error from Angelo Ogbonna. A bouncing ball beat the centre back and Oumar Niasse was in on goal, yet Adrian pulled out a fine save with leg.
This would haunt the Senegalese as seven minutes later, West Ham opened the scoring. A typical piece of fleet-footed work from Lanzini found Cheick Kouyate who intended to pass to Arnautovic.
He left the ball for the Argentine to cleverly collect the ball again before he fired the ball into the far corner with his left foot.
A deserved lead and but for Pickford, David Moyes would’ve led more convincingly against his old club at half time.
The second half was a more tepid affair as both sides struggled to click in the final third. West Ham’s dynamic trio were still menacing but with Everton switching to a back four, they couldn’t cause as much confusion as in the first half.
A tame volley from substitute Davy Klassen straight into the arms of Adrian summed up their game in a disappointing final day for Sam Allardyce’s side.
It got worse for the Merseysiders on 63 minutes as Arnautovic got in on the act. The ball fell to him on the edge of the box and with his right foot, lashed the ball towards Pickford who couldn’t deal with the pace of the shot.
The home fans were in a jubilant mood and were cheering again when Cresswell’s free-kick was perfect for the Hammer of the Year to head home his second.
But the offside flag denied him and brought rare groans from West Ham supporters on an otherwise enjoyable final day at London Stadium this season.
However, things took a turn for David Moyes’ men when Niasse drove at Cresswell and shot at the near post, but Adrian got his fingertips there to tip it onto the post.
From the resulting corner, the Hammers failed to get a head onto a number of duels and Niasse gathered and smashed the loose ball past the Spaniard this time.
This could’ve made for a tense finish, but instead order of the day was restored. Pablo Zabaleta played a diagonal to the left for Lanzini who was all alone. But with a cut inside and swing of his right foot, he found the top corner superbly, past the despairing hand of Pickford.
It turned out to be West Ham’s Spanish stopper having the stand-out day as first Theo Walcott down low, then a bouncing shot from Niasse were both denied by Adrian.
The day got even sweeter for Hammers fans as ‘Ginger Pele’, James Collins, was given a rapturous welcome for what is set to be his final game for the club with his contract up in the summer.
