David Moyes praised his team’s spirit and effort after his West Ham United side battled hard at London Stadium to claim a 1-0 victory over London rivals Chelsea.
The Hammers were forced to defend for large parts of the game after Marko Arnautovic had given them the lead in the sixth-minute of the Premier League derby.
However, Moyes’ men limited the Blues to just a couple of meaningful chances and the hosts could have stretched their lead even further on the break in the second half on a number of occasions.
On the back of last week’s battling performance which eventually yielded no points at Manchester City, the boss was delighted as this time, the east Londoners were able to hold onto their first half lead.
He said: “What a great result it is for us. We needed to find a result and we’ve done that. We came close against Manchester City and for long periods, we thought we were going to get it.
“But today, the spirit of the team, how we stuck together and our effort was fantastic. The basics were done very well today.
“Don’t get me wrong, it was really tough today, Chelsea kept us under pressure. But we played well, we scored a good goal in the first half and if we’d been better with the ball in the second half we’d have got another goal.”
With Michail Antonio leading the line and Arnautovic and Manuel Lanzini in just behind the 27-year-old, the Hammers packed the midfield and prevented last year’s Premier League champions from causing too much danger in and around the penalty area.
And a back five, consisting of wing-backs Pablo Zabaleta and Arthur Masuaku and Winston Reid, Angelo Ogbonna and Aaron Cresswell playing more centrally, stood strong and cleared everything that came their way.
Along with goalkeeper Adrian who kept his place after last week’s Man of the Match performance at the Etihad Stadium, the manager was thrilled with his defence who helped keep a first clean sheet in eleven games.
“We are having to try and stop conceding goals,” he continued. “I think we have people who can score and cause problems, but we need to stop conceding goals.
The spirit of the team, how we stuck together and our effort was fantastic. What a great result it is for us. We needed to find a result and we’ve done that.
David Moyes
“We did better last week with that, we didn’t get a result but we were better and again we were better today.
“I have two really good goalkeepers. Joe’s professional when I told him he wasn’t playing, and Adrian played very well last week. We have kept a clean sheet today, so at the moment Adrian’s done well and played well again today.”
As ever, the West Ham supporters stuck behind their team and were a huge influence in the second half as the eleven on the pitch put in a backs-to-the-wall display, and Moyes admitted they played a big part.
“For anybody to say there is not a good atmosphere here, they’re wrong. They’d have to be here today to see the great atmosphere inside the stadium. The supporters knew the game was on the edge.
“We were fighting to not concede and the crowd were great and they played a big part.
“They appreciated the effort the players are putting in, and if they’re putting that effort in, then supporters will cheer them. Ultimately, we want to play our football better, but it can only be one step at a time.
“We need our season to turn now. We’ve beaten the champions today, it’s a great achievement for us and a great three points.”