Tag: West Ham United

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WESTHAM’S OGBONNA FACING SPELL ON SIDELINES WITH ACL INJURY

Angelo Ogbonna will miss a significant chunk of West Ham’s season after picking up a serious knee injury against Liverpool.

The Hammers toppled the Reds 3-2 on Sunday to leapfrog Jurgen Klopp’s side into third place in the Premier League table.

But the buoyant mood from that pivotal victory has been tempered by the discovery of an anterior cruciate ligament problem for Ogbonna.

The Italy defender has already started recovery work on the injury to his right knee.

“After being substituted following a separate incident that led to him suffering a cut above his eye, Angelo felt some discomfort in his right knee so we scanned him to ascertain the extent of the injury,” West Ham’s head of medical Richard Collinge told the club’s website.

“That scan has shown up some damage to the anterior cruciate ligament and we have begun his rehabilitation immediately.

“Angelo will see another specialist this week and we will then have a clearer picture around his timeline of recovery.”

While the Hammers are not yet putting a time frame on his recovery, if he requires surgery he would likely be sidelined for at least six months.

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WESTHAM END LIVERPOOL UNBEATEN RUN AS THEY CLIMB UP TO THIRD

West Ham leapfrogged Liverpool into third and denied Jurgen Klopp’s side a piece of club history with a stunning 3-2 victory.

Liverpool arrived at the London Stadium knowing that if they avoided defeat they would extend their unbeaten run to 26 matches, beating the club’s all-time record set by Bob Paisley’s team in 1982.

They looked on course to do just that following a wonderful free-kick from Trent Alexander-Arnold.

But West Ham mean business as well this season and proved it when Pablo Fornals, whose corner had been palmed in by Reds keeper Alisson for the opening goal, broke away to score a second.

Kurt Zouma then headed a third and although Divock Origi pulled one back with seven minutes remaining, the Hammers held on for a famous victory.

West Ham took the lead in the fourth minute when Alisson, under pressure from Angelo Ogbonna as he leapt for the ball, touched Fornals’ corner into the net.

After a lengthy VAR review, for a possible foul and then handball, the goal was awarded, much to Klopp’s dismay.

Diogo Jota, starting in place of the injured Roberto Firmino, could have equalised on the half hour but sent his header from Jordan Henderson’s cross over the crossbar, while Alexander-Arnold’s volley was also too high.

But it was not the first-half performance of a side who had scored at least three goals in their last six away matches in the league.

However, with five minutes of the half remaining Liverpool were awarded a contentious free-kick on the edge of the area when Mohamed Salah went down under Declan Rice’s challenge.

West Ham lined-up an eight-man wall, complete with Fornals as the ‘draught excluder’, but Alexander-Arnold bypassed it with a simple one-yard pass to Salah to his right.

It left the England right-back with the simpler task of lifting the ball over Jarrod Bowen on the end of the wall, rather than the imposing Rice, Dawson and Tomas Soucek, and he curled a superb effort up and over while leaving Hammers keeper Lukasz Fabianski totally wrong-footed.

Michail Antonio passed up a glorious chance to put West Ham back ahead when he was sent clean through by Said Benrahma, only for his control to badly let him down at the wrong time, and Bowen was thwarted by a perfectly-timed Virgil Van Dijk challenge in the area in stoppage time.

At the start of the second half Dawson’s header from another corner came back off the crossbar, while at the other end Sadio Mane’s volley was kept out by Fabianski.

It was Bowen, a player Klopp readily admits he admires, who unlocked the Liverpool defence in the 67th minute after Dawson and Rice smuggled the ball away for West Ham from inside their own half.

The forward ran at the back-pedalling Liverpool rearguard, drawing defenders in, before slipping the ball to Fornals who ran through to fire past Alisson.

There was more to come. Antonio and Fornals were denied by Alisson before Bowen floated in a 75th-minute corner and the unmarked Zouma nodded it in at the far post.

Origi turned and fired home from 18 yards to set up a grandstand finish, but Liverpool could not find an equaliser – Mane coming closest when he headed wide in stoppage time – and Hammers boss David Moyes celebrated a place in the top three and a first win over Klopp in eight attempts.

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WESTHAM BAN TWO FANS OVER ANTI-SEMITIC SONG ON PLANE

West Ham have confirmed they have banned two supporters who were filmed singing an anti-Semitic song towards a Jewish man on a plane.

Essex Police have also arrested a second man in connection with the incident.

A video emerged on social media on Thursday appearing to show some Hammers supporters on a flight to Belgium singing the offensive song as the man walked down the aisle to take his seat.

The fans on the flight were on their way to watch West Ham play Belgian side Genk in the Europa League.

Manager David Moyes on Friday joined his club in condemning the incident.

“I don’t see our football club being like that. We are a diverse football club. There’s no room for discrimination anywhere,” he said.

A statement from Essex Police read: “Essex Police officers have arrested a second man on suspicion of a hate crime at Stansted Airport.

“Officers arrested the 26-year-old man as he stepped off a flight from the Netherlands.

“The man has been taken to an Essex Police station where he will be questioned.

“The arrest has been made in connection with our investigation of a video on social media of a man being subjected to harassment whilst taking his seat on board an aeroplane before it departed from Stansted Airport on November 4th.

“A 55-year-old man who was arrested on November 5th has been released on bail until December 1st. The enquiry is ongoing.”

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JURGEN KLOPP SLAMS VAR ‘HIDING’ PROBLEM AFTER LIVERPOOL DEFEAT TO WESTHAM

Jurgen Klopp has taken issue with referee Craig Pawson and VAR, accusing the officials of hiding, after Liverpool’s defeat to West Ham on Sunday.

The Reds boss was unhappy with a number of decisions at the London Stadium as his side fell to a 3-2 defeat, and was adamant the Hammers’ opening goal should have been disallowed for a foul on Alisson.

And when asked about the goal after the final whistle, Klopp took issue with Pawson’s use of VAR and how there must be a ‘clear and obvious’ error for a decision to be overturned.

“It’s a clear foul on Alisson. How can it not be?” he insisted. “The arm is up, the arm from Ogbonna is there and I really don’t know.

“I don’t know who was VAR today. We always have to say the ref maybe in the game can see that but in the situation, when you see the dynamic of the whole situation when they all go down and they are so close to each other, how can that not be a foul already without pushing the arm of Alisson away?

“But the ref made it easy for himself and thought, ‘Come on, let’s see what the VAR is saying?’ The VAR had a look and said not clear and obvious, I don’t know why, and here’s the goal which is really strange.

“It’s all about the ref. The ref is always right. Not all refs but he does. Not all refs, it’s just the situation.

“He just thinks, ‘Okay, let’s see what he says.’ He did that today, definitely.”

He continued: “There was another situation. Trent Alexander-Arnold after a set-piece on the second ball, takes the ball on the volley and goes down. It’s not a foul but he has a proper bruise under his foot.

“Where’s that coming from? It’s just – don’t do anything and just see what the VAR is saying.

“And there we have the problem with the clear and obvious mistake because whoever is there in the VAR hides behind that phrase, and then we have two people hiding and in the end we have the wrong decision.”

Klopp also called for more protection of goalkeepers after West Ham’s opener was allowed to stand, suggesting Alisson had no chance to keep it out.

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WESTHAM THRASH 10-MAN ASTONVILLA

West Ham won 4-1 at Aston Villa to move into the top four in the Premier League and round off a wonderful week for David Moyes’ side.

The Hammers defeated London rivals Tottenham last weekend and reached the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup with a penalty shoot-out victory against holders Manchester City, before putting 10-man Villa to the sword.

Villa boss Dean Smith will feel everything that could go wrong did go wrong as his team slipped to a fourth successive Premier League defeat.

Long-range strikes from Ben Johnson and Declan Rice saw Moyes’ men head into half-time in front, after Ollie Watkins had equalised for the hosts.

Ezri Konsa’s red card shortly after the break gave Villa an uphill task and further goals from Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen inside the final 10 minutes settled the contest.

Leon Bailey was handed his first Premier League start as Smith made four changes, with Jacob Ramsey, Kortney Hause and Marvelous Nakamba also coming in.

On the cusp of making his 100th Premier League appearance, Tyrone Mings was the highest-profile casualty of Villa’s change of shape following three successive defeats, reverting to a 4-3-3 with Hause partnering Konsa at the heart of the defence.

West Ham boss Moyes named the same team that started the win against Tottenham, meaning there were eight changes from the side that defeated City in the cup on Wednesday night.

The change of shape saw Villa make a nervy start and Said Benrahma had already had a sight of goal before West Ham went ahead with just seven minutes on the clock.

Rice sprayed a pass out to the right flank for Johnson, who was in all sorts of space and cut inside on to his left foot before curling a low shot into the far corner of the net.

Villa were dealt another setback when Ramsey hobbled off injured just a quarter of an hour in, although the resulting free-kick brought the hosts’ first chance as Bailey watched a cross all the way onto his foot at the far post before volleying into the midriff of Lukasz Fabianski.

Some superb defending from Matty Cash denied West Ham a second goal as he twice blocked driven efforts by Bowen, bravely heading clear the second attempt from just in front of his goal line, before Watkins levelled things up in the 34th minute.

John McGinn and Emiliano Buendia combined down the right, with Buendia turning Fornals to get to the byline inside the penalty area where his low cross was steered home by Watkins from around the penalty spot.

Villa’s delight was short-lived, however, as Rice restored the visitors’ lead with a 25-yard shot that bobbled its way into the back of the net via a touch off the post just four minutes later.

Things got worse for Villa at the start of the second half with Konsa’s red card. A mess defensively for Dean Smith’s side, Hause caught Fornals in the face on the run before Konsa was then booked for knocking Bowen to the ground right on the edge of the box.

VAR took a look at both incidents and decided that Hause had no case to answer, while Konsa saw his yellow card upgraded to red after referee Chris Kavanagh had been to look at the monitor.

Mings was introduced for his milestone appearance, with Buendia sacrificed.

Against the odds, Villa were almost level again just before the hour when Watkins’ shot brushed the fingertips of Fabianski and crashed against the crossbar.

That was Villa’s big chance to get something from the game and Martinez made a couple of fine saves either side of the midway point of the second half, pushing away a Rice free-kick and a shot from Bowen on the angle.

Villa were still in the match entering the final 10 minutes but the Hammers gave themselves some breathing space when Fornals tapped in the rebound from close range after Martinez had done well to save Bowen’s initial shot.

Bowen added a fourth goal after 84 minutes with another simple finish after being unselfishly set up by substitute Manuel Lanzini.

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MANCHESTER CITY’S CARABAO CUP DOMINANCE ENDS AS WESTHAM WIN ON PENALTIES

Manchester City’s grip on the Carabao Cup was finally loosened as West Ham knocked out the holders on penalties.

Phil Foden missed from the spot for City while West Ham scored all five of theirs to reach the quarter-finals.

City had won this competition in six of the past eight seasons, including the last four.

In fact Tuesday marked five years to the day since they were last eliminated from this cup, a 1-0 defeat at Manchester United.

But they were held to a goalless draw by a dogged West Ham side, who then finished the job when Said Benrahma converted the winning penalty to the delight of a sold-out London Stadium.

Club captain Mark Noble, handed an increasingly rare start in what is his farewell season, enjoyed a fine match and also netted his penalty, as did Jarrod Bowen, Craig Dawson and Aaron Cresswell.

It was Noble who had the first effort on goal with a drive from the edge of the box which was punched clear by City keeper Zack Steffen.

At the other end of the career scale, City’s 19-year-old striker Cole Palmer started up front in a team showing nine changes but still packed with internationals.

Palmer, who followed up his goal against Wycombe in this competition with one in the Champions League at Club Brugge, could have added to that tally when he received a cut-back from Riyad Mahrez, but his shot was too close to Alphonse Areola in the West Ham goal.

As the first half drew to a close Palmer saw a shot deflected over and Nathan Ake headed a Mahrez free-kick wide.

West Ham were a much-changed side as well but still showing plenty of endeavour, with Noble setting up the overlapping Arthur Masuaku who fired just over.

They came even closer to breaking the deadlock when Masuaku stung the palms of Steffen, with Andriy Yarmolenko

At the other end the impressive Palmer teed up Ilkay Gundogan, whose shot fizzed across goal, before Kevin De Bruyne’s deflected effort was scrambled wide by Areola.

From the corner, the Hammers’ back-up keeper made a stunning point-blank save to keep out a header from John Stones.

It seemed neither team fancied the idea of penalties, with both attacking at will. Tomas Soucek was next to try his luck for West Ham but sidefooted wide when he should have hit the target.

Hammers boss David Moyes sensed his side, who beat Manchester United in the last round, could possibly record another statement win and made a triple substitution on the hour with Bowen, Benrahma and Pablo Fornals all sent on.

But City were still the more threatening and Palmer squandered a glorious chance when he lashed Raheem Sterling’s pull-back over before Areola saved with his feet to deny Gundogan and tipped Zinchenko’s drive away.

Foden, Jack Grealish and Gabriel Jesus had been summoned from City’s star-studded bench, and after Soucek curled another chance wide for the hosts, Areola held Sterling’s header to take the tie to penalties.

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MICHAIL ANTONIO FIRES WESTHAM TO VICTORY OVER TOTTENHAM

Michail Antonio continued to make Tottenham his favourite opponent as he fired West Ham to a 1-0 win at the London Stadium.

The Hammers striker enjoys playing against Spurs more than any other club and bagged his sixth goal against their capital rivals late in the second half to earn a derby-day win.

Antonio got the better of his marker Harry Kane at a corner and poked home his seventh of the campaign in all competitions.

The win moves David Moyes’ side above Tottenham in the table and continues their solid start to the season.

It was a fourth London derby defeat of the season for Spurs, who have also lost to Crystal Palace, Chelsea and Arsenal, and their battle for consistency is undermining any credible attempt to crack the top four.

They had chances in the first half but did not have a single shot on goal after the break.

Boss Nuno Espirito Santo clearly prioritised this game by leaving the entire starting XI at home while a second string travelled to Holland for a Europa Conference League game with Vitesse Arnhem.

Five of West Ham’s side were in Europa League action, but it was the hosts who started the brightest and forced Hugo Lloris into an early save as the Frenchman got down to keep out Pablo Fornals’ acrobatic effort.

Spurs thought they should have had a penalty as Kane played in Tanguy Ndombele, who was clattered into by Kurt Zouma, with VAR ruling no offence had taken place.

That helped bring the visitors to life and they fashioned two chances in quick succession.

First Kane’s brilliant through-ball set Son Heung-min free, he squared to Lucas Moura, but the Brazilian got his feet in a muddle and could not keep his shot on the turn down.

Soon after Son was in on goal after Ndombele’s pass had played him in, but his first-time shot was easy for Lukasz Fabianski to save.

West Ham were still in the game and enjoyed a good spell, which saw Tomas Soucek fire a good chance at the far post over and Antonio curl an effort wide after he overpowered Cristian Romero.

But Spurs could have gone in at half-time in front, but for a fine save by Fabianski.

The visitors worked the ball well down the left and Sergio Reguilon’s cross was met at the far post by Kane but the Poland goalkeeper did well to tip the ball over.

Tottenham started the second half brightly as they regularly threatened down the flanks but there was no quality at the vital moment as Reguilon, Ndombele and Kane all wasted opportunities to tee up team-mates.

West Ham were more streetwise than their opponents and the decisive moment came with 18 minutes remaining.

Reguilon was caught in possession by Fornals, whose shot was deflected over. And from the resulting corner, Antonio got in front of a statuesque Kane to poke home at the near post.

Spurs had nothing in the way of a response and West Ham held on to make it three wins in the last five against Spurs.

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WESTHAM END EVERTON BOSS BENITEZ’S PERFECT HOME RECORD

West Ham defender Angelo Ogbonna’s header ended Everton manager Rafael Benitez’s 100 per cent home record as David Moyes got the better of his old Merseyside adversary in a 1-0 Premier League victory at Goodison Park.

The pair had previously met 15 times – 12 of those as managers on opposing sides of Stanley Park with the Spaniard then Liverpool boss – and Moyes had won just twice.

So this was a satisfying return to his old stomping ground for the Scot with Ogbonna’s 74th-minute goal denying Benitez the chance to record Everton’s best start to a season since 1978-79.

The nature of the goal was somewhat familiar to all inside the ground as, much like during his 11 years with the Toffees, it came from a set-piece.

Since his first game back in charge at West Ham, his side have earned a reputation as dead-ball specialists – and they have scored more (29), excluding penalties – than any other Premier League side.

There was a whiff of controversy as referee Stuart Atwell ruled Michail Antonio’s awkward challenge on goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had earned a corner despite protests from the home team.

Having wasted a good start to the game, Moyes would have been relieved to have left with three points, which lifted West Ham back into the top six.

Everton, still without their two biggest attacking threats Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison due to injury, barely had a kick for 20 minutes.

They were pinned back by the visitors’ flying start, propelled forward by Pablo Fornals and Said Benrahma with England midfielder Declan Rice knitting things together from deep.

But, bizarrely, it was Benitez’s side who squandered the best opportunity of the half when Demarai Gray beat Ogbonna by the corner flag and crossed the ball to the near post.

The proximity of Salomon Rondon may have put off team-mate Alex Iwobi at the near post, but his swing and a miss from six yards was inexcusable.

Abdoulaye Doucoure headed another good chance wide, this time from an Andros Townsend cross, while a Tomas Soucek goal at the other end was chalked out for offside after he converted a rebound from Jarrod Bowen’s shot.

Moyes would have gone in at half-time wondering how his side were not ahead, Benitez would have been grateful they were not.

The Spaniard’s tactical switching of Gray to the left and Iwobi centrally – late in the first half – had the two-fold effect of giving the former more freedom to attack 21-year-old right-back Ben Johnson, standing in for the injured Vladimir Coufal, while also reducing Rice’s influence in the centre.

Everton enjoyed more control after the break with Iwobi’s shot on the turn deflected behind and Rondon glancing a header just wide from Townsend’s inswinging cross as West Ham started to lose their way.

However, the match turned on Antonio’s challenge on England’s number one: Ogbonna glanced home Rice’s cross and with it went Benitez’s unbeaten home record.

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WE WON’T NEGLECT PREMIER LEAGUE FOR EUROPE – DAVID MOYES

West Ham boss David Moyes is loving life in European football but has vowed not to take his eye off the ball in the Premier League as he bids to juggle a packed fixture list beyond Christmas.

The in-form Hammers continued their Europa League adventure with a 2-0 win over Rapid Vienna on Thursday evening, a repeat of the result they achieved at Dinamo Zagreb a fortnight ago.

Last season’s surprise sixth-placed finish has placed greater demands on the London club, leaving Moyes with a tricky balancing act.

But the experienced Scot, who must swiftly switch his attentions back to domestic duties ahead of Sunday’s visit of Brentford, insists he is relishing the challenges posed by the hectic schedule.

“We want European football – I wish it was the Champions League because it would mean we had Wednesday-Saturday (fixtures) – but if we’re getting Thursday-Sunday, I’m taking that all day long,” he said.

“We’re loving being in the European competition. We’ve got a lot of players who have not been in European football before.

“I’d like to be in European football after Christmas time, that’s my goal with this competition at the moment.

“I can’t take my eye off the ball with the Premier League, but I’m doing my best to juggle the squad and give everybody minutes and hope to try and win the games by using as may players as I possibly can.”

West Ham have so far coped impressively with the packed programme, with a narrow top-flight loss to Manchester United their only defeat of the campaign to date.

They sit seventh going into the weekend, two points and as many places above their newly-promoted visitors.

The fixture will see Hammers forward Said Benrahma reunited with the club he left just under a year ago.

Algeria international Benrahma took 31 games to score his first United goal but has already struck four times this campaign, including the clincher in the Rapid Vienna victory, prompting praise from Moyes.

“Since he’s come to us, he’s taken a bit of time (to adapt) but I say this quite often about the players who come up from the Championship and even players we bring in from abroad, coming into the Premier League is not an easy one to step into and hit the ground running,” said the manager.

“Some players do, some don’t.

“I think it’s taken Said a little of time to understand his roles and how he has to play at this level.

“But we’ve been really pleased with him, he’s been a big positive for us since the start of the season.”

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WESTHAM BIDDERS ADMIT DEFEAT IN TAKEOVER ATTEMPT

West Ham co-owner David Sullivan has turned down a second and final offer for the club, according to the PAI Capital consortium attempting a takeover.

PAI says the bid included a £150 million (€175 million) cash injection to be used for development of the training ground, youth academy, scouting set-up and player recruitment across the men’s and women’s teams.

However, the consortium claim Sullivan has turned down the offer “on the basis that, with the team performing so well, it is not the right time to sell”.

In a statement, PAI Capital managing partner Nasib Piriyev said: “I am disappointed that we cannot conclude the deal as hoped, as we have some big ideas for the club.

“This is something we have been working on for over nine months, with a committed team behind the bid.

“West Ham is close to my heart and I hope that our interest has been healthy for the club – I believe that all competition is good for focusing minds and improving performance.

“Of course, we respect the owners’ wishes and simply put on the record that we are here if, and when, they decide the time is right for them to sell.

“Until then, I wish all the best to the club, and I thank the fans for their patience, understanding and support.”

PAI’s initial approach to West Ham was dismissed by Sullivan in February, and the consortium had since gained the backing of former Hammers players Tony Cottee and Rio Ferdinand.

But West Ham’s stance has remained the same throughout – that there has been no formal bid for the club and that Sullivan and co-owner David Gold have no intention of selling.