Bowen’s twin strike buys West Ham United boss breathing space

El Sackio. Dismissal Derby. Survival Saturday – call it what you want but certainly neither the West Ham United manager nor counterpart Frank Lampard would have enjoyed their finest Friday night’s nap, fearing the consequences of defeat.

But it was the Scot who came out on top thanks to Jarrod Bowen’s first-half double that finally earned the Hammers their first Premier League win since late October, while the Toffees boss is left in a seriously sticky situation.

With only one place and one solitary goal separating these two sides, Moyes entered this crucial contest in 18th place without a win in his last seven Premier League games – a wretched run mirrored by Everton, one rung below.

A 1-0 defeat at fellow strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers last Saturday had left West Ham with a paltry tally of just 17 goals at the halfway stage of the season and, following that lethargic loss at Molineux, they had, at least, splashed the cash on Danny Ings in the run-up to this fixture.

But to the consternation of those arriving at London Stadium, the three-cap England international – a reported £15million capture from Aston Villa – was left marooned on the bench for 70 minutes as the Scot made just three changes.

In came fans’ favourite Saïd Benrahma, Emerson Palmieri and fit-again former Everton loanee Kurt Zouma as substitutes Tomáš Souček, Aaron Cresswell and Pablo Fornals joined new boy Ings in the dug-out but – come the final whistle – Moyes’ judgement had prevailed thanks to that Bowen brace.

After a hearty minute’s applause celebrating the life of joint chairman David Gold, who passed away just four days into the New Year, the hopeful Hammers fans remained in good voice as the visitors started in visibly shaky manner, nervously trying to deal with a couple of probing runs from Bowen and the reprieved Michail Antonio.

Their early optimism was tested on the quarter-hour mark, though, when Alex Iwobi’s cross struck Ogbonna, who was relieved – just like everyone else in claret and blue – to survive a brief Video Assistant Referee review and there was more angst for the Italian international shortly afterwards when he fell awkwardly following an aerial duel with Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Seven days earlier, Lampard had watched on helplessly as his side lost to bottom-placed Southampton but following that dismal defeat at a grim Goodison Park, the under-fire Everton boss made just one change with Yerry Mina replacing Ben Godfrey.

West Ham may have appeared to have surrendered their early glimpses of momentum as the Merseysiders began to enjoy two-thirds possession but Moyes’ men were still the team looking the most likely to break the stalemate.

On the half-hour mark, Benrahma forced the first save of the afternoon when he unleashed a rising 20-yarder that Jordan Pickford diverted high into the chilly Stratford skies and, after the deep-lying Lucas Paquetá saw a low shot blocked, Emerson’s low left-wing cross then failed to reach a home jersey.

However, Emerson did find a Hammer with a hanging, 34th-minute centre that was met by Zouma whose header ricocheted off James Tarkowski into the path of Bowen who lashed the ball into the net from just a couple of yards.

Once again, the VAR gods looked down favourably on West Ham, who survived an offside check and there was more misery for Tarkowski just eight minutes later, when Bowen doubled the home advantage.

This time, the England international sent Antonio racing away down the left flank where he rode the Everton defender’s reckless lunge and, now with both time and space to pick out his man, the number nine cut back to the inrushing Bowen, who ghosted between both Amadou Onana and Mina to claim his seventh goal of the campaign with a low 10-yarder.

Just before the break, Iwobi gave the Hammers due warning that they were not yet home and hosed, when his low shot was deflected onto the base of the left-hand upright but with his Goodison Park tenure now about to enter the most crucial 45 minutes of his 12 months in the job, Lampard made a double switch for the restart.

Séamus Coleman and the anonymous Vitaliy Mykolenko retired with Dwight McNeil and Tom Davies stepping into the fray and, after Paquetá was booked for overturning Onana, Idrissa Gueye let fly with an 18-yarder that Łukasz Fabiański turned around his right-hand post.

Midway through the second period, though, Emerson put Everton onto the backfoot when he burst forward from halfway before launching a rising 15-yarder that Pickford tipped onto his crossbar and from the consequent corner, Nayef Aguerd glanced Bowen’s inswinging corner over the angle.

Tarkowski’s afternoon took another turn for the worse when he was booked for dragging down Bowen and, with those 20 minutes remaining, Ings finally got the call to arms alongside Souček as Paquetá and Antonio retired to appreciative applause.

Next up, Declan Rice broke forward and, with his passing options diminishing with each and every stride, the Hammers skipper rolled a low, tightly-angled shot across the face of goal and just an inch or so beyond the far post.

Flynn Downes and Ben Johnson then brought fresh legs to a West Ham XI defending doggedly and edging their way towards the finish line as Benrahma and Emerson sat out the final 10 minutes or so, watching Bowen trying to snaffle the match ball.

But in the end, the two-goal saviour had to settle for the deadly double that had given his side three precious points and, seemingly, given his manager some breathing space as the Hammers climbed into the heady heights of 15th place, while Lampard no doubt faces an anxious few days ahead.

West Ham United: Fabiański, Zouma, Ogbonna, Aguerd, Coufal, Emerson (Johnson 81), Rice, Paquetá (Souček 71), Benrahma (Downes 81), Bowen, Antonio (Ings 71). Unused subs: Areola, Cresswell, Fornals, Lanzini, Kehrer.

Everton: Pickford, Mina, Coady, Tarkowski, Onana, Gueye, Coleman (Davies 46), Mykolenko (McNeil 46), Iwobi, Gray, Calvert-Lewin. Unused subs: Begovic, Holgate, Gordon, Maupay, Vinagre, Simms, Price.

Booked: Paquetá (50), Tarkowski (67).

Referee: Stuart Attwell.