4 1GG Monday April 4 2022 | the times
thegame
work out how many free kicks he’s
taken before scoring one — I had a
guess of around 625,” Moyes joked.
A former Liverpool academy player,
Cresswell raced to celebrate in front
of the Everton fans so wildly that the
Sky Sports cameraman pursuing him
ended up tumbling to the turf.
For Everton’s following, it was a
familiar feeling, this disappointment
on the road — but at least this time
the deficit was thanks to a moment of
brilliance from the opposition rather
than calamity in their own defence.
Lampard had questioned whether
his team “had the bollocks” after their
embarrassing 4-0 FA Cup quarter-
final defeat by Crystal Palace beforethe international break, and he was
provided with encouragement
early on.
Cresswell’s goal came courtesy of a
free kick won by Bowen after being
tripped by Holgate, who had been
named on the bench an hour before
kick-off but replaced Donny van de
Beek in the starting XI after the
Dutchman suffered a muscle injury
in the warm-up.
Lampard’s midfield looked odd, with
Iwobi alongside Abdoulaye Doucouré
and Holgate in front of the back four,
but they combined well. Richarlison
had their best opportunities, curling
an effort over Lukasz Fabianski’s bar
with the outside of his boot fiveFrank Lampard’s side seemed to
have responded to his heavy
criticism before the international
break, as they went a goal down
but found the fight to drag
themselves back into the game
with an equaliser.
Yet someone seems to
have their thumb firmly on
the self-destruct button at
Everton and, within seven
second-half minutes, hope
turned to horror, and the
spectre of an unthinkable
relegation grew.
Wednesday’s game
against Sean Dyche’s
Burnley could prove the
tipping point for two teams
scrabbling for safety. That
the match is at Turf Moor
should be even more
troubling for Lampard, who
has been unable to overturn his
side’s curse away from home.
TOM RODDY
His predecessor, Rafa Benítez,
recorded their only league away win
of the season back in August, against
Brighton & Hove Albion.
Lampard remains upbeat about
Everton’s prospects, applauding his
team’s character to equalise through
Mason Holgate, only to see another
collapse. Alex Iwobi’s error allowed
Jarrod Bowen, back from injury, to
score the crucial goal and, moments
later, Michael Keane was sent off for
a second yellow card, Everton’s third
dismissal in as many league games.
With him went any hope Lampard’s
team had.
For David Moyes, this was the
perfect warm-up for Thursday night’s
visit of Lyons in the Europa League
quarter-final first leg. It is a reflection
of West Ham’s progress that this was
the first time since 1973 that they
recorded a league double over
Everton, but that may say more
about the visitors.
Despite one team hoping to
head for Barcelona soon and
the other fearing regular
away days at Barnsley,
this was not quite as
one-sided as their
positions suggest.
West Ham’s focus
could have been on
Lyons’ visit but
that historic night
seemed to provide
little distraction as
they took the lead
through Aaron
Cresswell’s wonderful
free kick into the top
corner from 25 yards.
“We were just trying tominutes from the interval, having had
an excellent opportunity ripped away
by Ryan Fredericks’ quick recovery.
That was three minutes before
Cresswell’s free kick. Moyes’s team
had started brightly with flowing
moves, one of which Jordan Pickford
smothered at the feet of Pablo
Fornals after an interchange between
Bowen, Said Benrahma and Michail
Antonio. Antonio has not scored in
the league since New Year’s Day but
should have moments before half-
time when he took the ball around
Pickford, instead of chipping him,
meaning the angle proved too acute
to score from.
The miss may have been what
galvanised Everton early in the
second half and, temporarily, offered
hope. Dominic Calvert-Lewin clipped
the crossbar five minutes in after
Iwobi’s driving run, which should
have provided a warning to West
Ham. Their equaliser came from a
corner that bounced in the area
before Richarlison, using his studs,
teed up Holgate, who showed
wonderful technique in striking the
ball, but it beat Fabianski via a
deflection off Fornals.
Everton fans released a flare in
the away end, but the celebrations
were short-lived. Iwobi, who had
been doing well, suffered a
momentary lapse in concentration.
Miscontrolling, he allowed Fornals to
release Antonio, one on one with
Pickford, who managed to block his
effort but directed it into the path of
Bowen, who finished emphatically.
Keane’s sending-off was for a
second bookable offence on Antonio,
lunging in late, having pulled the same
player back in the first half. Lampard
looked crestfallen. A win, away on
Wednesday, is all that matters now.Hope gives way to hurt for
2
Cresswell 32
Bowen 58RATINGS
West Ham United (4-2-3-1): L Fabianski 6 —
R Fredericks 7, C Dawson 7, K Zouma 6, A Cresswell
8 — T Soucek 7, D Rice 7 — J Bowen 7 (M Noble
70min, 6), S Benrahma 7 (A Yarmolenko 82),
P Fornals 7 — M Antonio 7. Booked Cresswell.
Everton (4-3-3) J Pickford 5 — J Kenny 5, B Godfrey
5, M Keane 4, V Mykolenko 5 — A Doucouré 5,
M Holgate 6, A Iwobi 4 — Richarlison 6, D Calvert-
Lewin 6 (A Gordon 78), D Gray 6. Booked Keane,
Richarlison, Holgate. Sent off Keane.
Referee M Oliver. Attendance 59,953.West Ham Everton
1
Holgate 53KEANE’S NIGHTMARE SECOND HALFMichael Keane had seven
second-half minutes to
forget at the London
Stadium when he misplaced
a pass to Alex Iwobi, above,
which allowed West Ham
United to break away and
regain the lead in the 58th
minute through Jarrod
Bowen, before collecting his
second yellow card in the
65th minute for a lunge on
Michail Antonio, right.Lampard remained upbeat
before the trip to Burnley