West Ham manager David Moyes is hoping to build on the confidence of his side following the Irons’ 3-0 win at home to relegation rivals Southampton.
The Hammers have been under increasing pressure from their fans following a string of bad results at home since the turn of the year, and in West Ham’s last home game emotions ran high with two separate pitch invasions coming from the home support.
‘I am thrilled with the performance’
But today the fans were in good spirits. After West Ham went 2-0 up just before the 15-minute mark there was a real sense of unity and passion among the home fans, and Moyes believes this passion will boost the confidence of his players in the final games of this season.
Moyes said: “In the opening part of the game we were terrific. We made well, and we know we were up for it today. Overall I am thrilled with the performance this afternoon.
“I thought before kick-off that the supporters would be behind the club. Today was a big game for us, and today we showed we can take our chances. The supporters have had their say, and today the players did what they could and I hope we can give them more.
“We need to bring some consistency to the standard of West Ham. How the bottom 10 teams work is that when teams go behind they don’t normally recover. First goals are always massive, but we can’t get carried away.”
A perfect afternoon for the Hammers
In a game that saw the Hammers sentence the Saints to the relegation zone, Moyes’ side completely outplayed Southampton as West Ham scored all three of their goals in the first half.
Joao Mario opened the scoring 13 minutes in when the on-loan midfielder opened his account for West Ham after firing the ball into the roof of the net after a quick counterattack from the hosts.
Marko Arnautovic made it 2-0 four minutes later after the Austrian striker’s first effort from close range was well saved by Alex McCarthy, but the Saints goalkeeper couldn’t keep out the rebound as the former Stoke City player sent the West Ham fans into raptures by converting the rebound.
The striker sealed the game in first half stoppage time when Arthur Masuaku’s incredible cross into the penalty area found Arnautovic, and the forward guided the ball past McCarthy.