David Moyes heaped praise on his West Ham United side after they took a giant leap towards the Premier League safety mark with a 2-0 win at Leicester City on Saturday afternoon.
Joao Mario’s first half opener was added to by skipper Mark Noble – who volleyed in a spectacular 25-yard strike – to put the game beyond the Foxes’ reach.
And the two-goal scoreline was perhaps kind on Claude Puel’s men, who could have fallen further behind on a number of occasions during both halves as Moyes’ men looked dangerous throughout.
The result leaves the Hammers on 38 points and with a sizeable buffer from the bottom three and the manager was delighted by his team’s huge performance.
“We played as well, at times, as we have played [this season],” he said. “The confidence the players had; they were trying to make things happen and in the end we got there.
“To get a clean sheet and three points is really good, too. These players are capable of winning games. Of course we have to do this on a more consistent basis, and we probably have to defend better to give ourselves a chance.
“But we did that today and on another day, if we were more clinical, we would have scored more goals.”
After a dominant opening 45 minutes, the visitors came under a spell of pressure as the second half began before the skipper relieved that with his 65th-minute screamer.
And Moyes admitted Noble – whose last goal was against Crystal Palace at the end of January – might have a case for claiming an award from a teammate…
“I just said to Nobes, Pedro Obiang might have to give you back the Goal of the Season [award] from his goal at Tottenham!” the boss laughed. “But look; in all seriousness, Mark is capable of scoring goals and it was really good for us.
“It’s an important goal. We didn’t play as well in the second half or control the game as we had done in the first, but you’d expect Leicester to come back into it.
“But then we had two or three really great chances on the break to more than wrap it up.”
The win was more than deserved. We played as well, at times, as we have played [this season].
David Moyes
Though the Hammers are not mathematically safe with the victory, it leaves teams below them with a lot of work to do and the gaffer admitted his is now looking upwards – not back over his shoulder – as his team head into their last two matches, both of which are at London Stadium.
“It’s not completely done yet, but it will take some doing for the teams below us to get us now. But now I’m actually thinking how many points we can get, where we can finish and thinking about getting close to the mid-half of the table.
“The Premier League has been like that all season and two wins, you’re near the top half.
“We’ll try and win some more points in the final two games to come. We’re in a good place and we can look to move forward.”