Fan's column: Wins becoming the norm for West Ham
Kwame Boakye
West Ham United's Andriy Yarmolenko (7) celebrates scoring his side's second goal of the game with teammates during the Emirates FA Cup fourth round match at the London Stadium, London. Picture date: Saturday January 23, 2021. - Credit: PA
Another win…we’re starting to get used to this aren’t we? That’s five in a row with only a solitary goal conceded in the process.
David Moyes pulled off a master stroke against Doncaster; not only did the team he named smash our League One opponents from the first minute till the full time whistle, he managed to rest key players for the monumental game at Crystal Palace on Tuesday.
The likes of Declan Rice, Angelo Ogbonna, Jarrod Bowen, and perhaps most importantly Michail Antonio, will be fresh for the trip south of the river and hopefully we will reap the benefits.
Moyes’ penchant for turning wingers into strikers has seemingly struck again; it was an assured display from Andriy Yarmolenko up front.
The Ukraine legend took his goal superbly and linked up well with his supporting cast of Said Benrahma, Manuel Lanzini and Pablo Fornals.
West Ham United's Oladapo Afolayan celebrates scoring his side's fourth goal of the game with teammate Ben Johnson (right) during the Emirates FA Cup fourth round match at the London Stadium, London. Picture date: Saturday January 23, 2021. - Credit: PA
You may also want to watch:
Due to the fact we still have not signed a striker, he may prove to be a decent understudy for Antonio but make no mistake, a striker is needed before the window closes.
A win at Palace would take us into the top four and to be in such nosebleed territory with over half the season gone, would firmly establish us in the race for not just Europa League football but maybe, just maybe, a seat at the top table.
Most Read
- 1 Call for tougher action after Covid-19 rule breakers cause misery in Plaistow
- 2 Woman in hospital after fire at Maryland block of flats
- 3 Vaccines for Muslims, driving into London and charity
- 4 Jailed: Drug dealer who crashed into cab leaving passengers critically injured
- 5 Detectives release images after robbery in East Ham
- 6 Takeover of surgeries by US insurance giant raises alarm among NHS campaigners
- 7 Nightclub stab victim's mum pleads for justice one year on from murder
- 8 Jailed: Manor Park man guilty of drug offences, but not machete murder
- 9 Firefighters tackle Stratford shop fire
- 10 Women's triumphs feature in online photo exhibition set up by east London snappers
At the London Stadium in December I felt Palace were the better side, they knocked us out of our stride and in all honesty we were quite fortunate to come away with a point.
However, I feel we can go into this fixture with confidence.
Momentum is very much on our side and for the home game we didn’t have Antonio leading the line. His pace, power and aerial ability could well prove to be the difference in south London.
West Ham United's Ben Johnson (right) and Doncaster Rovers' Joe Wright (left) battle for the ball during the Emirates FA Cup fourth round match at the London Stadium, London. Picture date: Saturday January 23, 2021. - Credit: PA
All season we’ve gone under the radar with barely a mention from a pundit or the press and perhaps that’s a good thing.
We’ve seen countless flavour of the months and media darlings fail to keep up and we’re now above just about every one of them.
Although one does suspect if we do creep into the top four on Tuesday that overdue praise for Moyes’ boys will come gushing out of every media outlet in Britain…
First things first, let’s beat Palace.
