West Ham 1 - 0 SwanseaCheikhou Kouyaté hits only goal as West Ham United sink Swansea City
Home team scorersCheikhou Kouyate 44
This week Slaven Bilic told his players that they must leave their egos in their beds if West Ham were to survive in the Premier League. Whether that was the decisive factor in the 1-0 win over Swansea that now leaves an eight-point gap between them and the bottom three is unclear, but the sighs of relief around the London Stadium at full-time could have knocked over the Orbit sculpture just outside.
A Cheikhou Kouyaté goal just before half-time was enough for West Ham to snag this most vital of three points in a game that virtually nobody could have enjoyed. Not the home team, who had to suffer horrific tension, not the away team, who lost, and not neutrals, who were not exactly provided with an afternoon of rip-roaring entertainment. Not that Bilic, now a little more secure in his post, should or will care.
Andy Carroll, struggling with a groin problem, was left on the bench as a ’break glass in case of emergency’ option, Bilic clearly reluctant to risk the fitness of his fragile striker. So much so that when auxiliary centre-forward Michail Antonio had to go off just before half-time, Jonathan Calleri was the man called upon to replace him. In some respects that might be a good indicator that Bilic is thinking reasonably clearly, not panicking after a run of five defeats that has left his job in doubt.
The opening stages were played out like two teams who had been told, for some reason, that they were only allowed to make moves of three or four passes at a time, or else there would be an automatic lock-in. A little like a large-scale and very expensive version of the Crystal Maze, with less skill and in less atmospheric surroundings. Manuel Lanzini scraped the top of the net with a free-kick after about 15 minutes, but beyond that it sullied the good name of ’scrappy’.
The first real moment of any quality came from Swansea keeper Lukasz Fabianski, who managed to somehow contort his body in such a way as to stop a Robert Snodgrass header from crossing the line, while he was falling back and to the left into his own goal. The home fans, desperate for some – any – good news, pleaded for the referee’s watch to buzz, but it remained still.
After about half an hour Paul Clement looked at his own watch. Maybe even he was bored. Fabianski produced another decent save to stop Andre Ayew’s low shot going into the corner, but the general level of quality remained low, to say the least. This looked like a game between two sides struggling at the grim end of the table with the prospect of relegation looming. Which, of course, shouldn’t be a particular surprise.
Just before half-time Antonio, who had been a doubt for the game due to illness, pulled up clutching his hamstring and had to be taken off, but from there things picked up for the Hammers. A neat passing interchange – one of the first of the afternoon – fed Kouyaté outside the area, and his powerful shot dipped into the bottom corner. The midfielder dashed into the waiting arms of the home fans, who hugged him tightly; for this spontaneous expression of relief and joy he was, of course, booked.
The goal spooked Clement enough to make a double change at half-time, bringing on Fernando Llorente and Luciano Narsingh for Tom Carroll and Wayne Routledge. They certainly looked more threatening after that, but the main point of interest in the opening stages of the second-half was a yellow card for Lanzini, sheepishly accepted after one of the most transparent examples of diving you will see this season.
Having the lead didn’t seem to calm Bilic’s nerves: he limped around the London Stadium’s vast technical area constantly with hands on hips, pausing only to occasionally move the hands to his knees and double over like a man with chronic stomach cramps. “It is not a time to panic or make knee-jerk decisions,” wrote co-owner David Sullivan in his programme notes. “To that end, we have 100 per cent faith in Slaven Bilic’s ability to lead West Ham United forward.” That reassurance hadn’t obviously relaxed the Hammers manager.
As time ticked down Swansea inched their way into the game, missing a couple of presentable chances: one a Narsingh shot that skimmed the crossbar, another a corner that two of their men, relatively free at the back post, contrived to miss completely. At the other end, Andre Ayew shot weakly when he could have sealed the points, and Calleri missed after being brilliantly teed up by Lanzini. But in the end for West Ham, no matter.
Guardian