West Ham United ended their 2022/23 Premier League home season on Sunday with a 3-1 victory over relegation-threatened side Leeds United.
The Hammers had gone behind inside the opening 20 minutes through Rodrigo’s volley, cancelled out 15 minutes later by another volley, this time from captain Declan Rice. Jarrod Bowen gave West Ham the lead with less than 20 minutes remaining, with Manuel Lanzini adding a third in second half stoppage time.
As West Ham climbed up to 14th in the Premier League table, here are five of the major talking points from the win at the London Stadium.
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Ending at home on a high
It did not seem that long ago that West Ham were right in the thick of a relegation battle and on the brink of a really grim-looking season. While the Premier League campaign has failed to match the exploits of the last two seasons, the mood around the club on and off the pitch at present is one of optimism and with a realisation that this season could be one of the best in the club’s history.
Going into the game, the Hammers were entering kick-off less than 72 hours after full-time in Alkmaar, where West Ham had celebrated beating AZ Alkmaar to reach the final of the Europa Conference League and on their last bow on home soil this season, they were keen to put on a show for a home crowd who will not welcome their players back to the London Stadium until August when next season begins.
In what was a family feel to the day as West Ham’s players walked out to the pitch, with their own children as mascots, West Ham were given an early shock as Lukasz Fabianski was forced into a low save to deny Jack Harrison’s volley at the end of a deflected Luke Ayling cross, a sign of what was to come.
Despite Fabianski’s early save, the Hammers found themselves behind inside 20 minutes as Rodrigo volleyed home off a vicious Weston McKennie long throw, a ball landing in a triangle of uncertainty between Angelo Ogbonna, Emerson and Pablo Fornals and before either could react, Fabianski was picking the ball out of his own net.
West Ham tried to level back through a long throw in of their own minutes later as Vladimir Coufal, playing for the first time after not featuring for four games with a hamstring injury, launched a long throw into the box. Kurt Zouma met it well but it evaded Danny Ings, but it was a sign of encouragement and not of a side suffering a European hangover.
Set-pieces looked to be a good avenue for the Hammers as Bowen whipped in a series of testing in-swinging corners in the first half. The best of which saw opt to slightly overhit it to an unmarked Lucas Paqueta corner, with his flick finding the head of Ings, who turned it to Tomas Soucek, whose effort on the turn was saved well by the groin of Joel Robles.
West Ham did then find a way through Leeds’ backline, helped by some brilliant team football inspired by Bowen and Fornals. Bowen charged towards the penalty area, passing to Fornals, who dinked the ball through Leeds’ defence back to find Bowen’s run. Chasing the through ball, Bowen met the ball, took one touch to chest it and then cross towards the back post where captain Rice made a striker-esque run to meet Bowen’s cross, volleying into the ground and past Robles, a stunning finish met with a raucous reception from a packed out London Stadium.
Soucek forced another save out of Robles as a result of another Bowen corner in the second half. Like Rice’s volley, Soucek went via the bounced effort off the grass, as his header forced Robles to tip over, with the game gradually swaying in West Ham’s favour ever since Rice’s leveller.
With Michail Antonio among those to start in the side who beat Alkmaar in midweek, dropped to the bench, Danny Ings was given a chance to lead the line. A criticism that could be fairly levelled at him so far at West Ham is his struggles in leading a line single-handedly, but against Leeds, he had more joy than he has had in other matches. Receiving a fizzing pass from Paqueta, Ings turned and chipped through Leeds’ defence to perfectly pick out the run of Bowen, who fractionally beat the offside trap of Max Wober and shot across goal with Robles only able to push it on to his own back post as Bowen scored against a side he was previously linked with prior to joining the Hammers from Hull City in 2020.
Leeds, for the brief spells of endeavour they showed after half-time, only really had one chance of note in the second half coming as substitute Crysencio Summerville raced on to a counter attack and outsprinted Emerson. As the Dutchman shifted on his right to side to get away from Fabianski, Emerson did well to recover, position himself in front of Summerville and block the winger’s shot, taking away the one big chance Leeds had in the second half.
While West Ham had other chances to score, most notably when Paqueta played Ings through on goal, only for Ings to lose the ball, in stoppage time, West Ham had another goal up their sleeve.
As Paqueta took a short corner to substitute Lanzini, it looked as if West Ham were trying to keep the ball in the corner at a stoppage time corner. However, after two one-twos and clever football in a tight area, Paqueta raced towards the byline and showed all his samba flair to drag the ball past a sliding Rasmus Kristensen before cutting it back to Lanzini, who slotted on what could be his final West Ham goal in what may well have been his final home appearance in claret and blue.
West Ham could and probably should have made it 4-1 when Paqueta raced in on a counter attack in the final seconds. In a golden position to shoot, Paqueta unselfishly attempted to square the ball to find the run of Rice, but it was cut out, with Rice passing to Divin Mubama who again, was unable to got the all-important touch. The fact that West Ham were able to do that against a side supposedly fighting for their survival says a lot about the lack of challenge Leeds put on in what was a must-win, or at very least, must-not-lose affair.
West Ham got their desired Sunday out, they put on a show for their home supporters, got a good win and had a chance to celebrate with their supporters before trips to Leicester and Prague.
Considering how bleak the mood seemed to be just a matter of weeks ago, it has completely flipped and now, West Ham can really relax against Leicester, should they choose to, before a first European final for 47 years in 16 days against Fiorentina in Prague.
Declan Rice’s potential farewell
Going into the game, there was a real sense that it could be Rice’s final game for West Ham on home soil. Even if it has not been said as officially as that, it was that overriding feeling in attendance at the London Stadium.
It only seemed fitting that he scored to level the game just after 30 minutes in, his fifth goal of the season. That made it his joint-best campaign in all competitions, and his four in the Premier League is twice as many as his previous best.
The cheer which greeted his goal was its usual loud self, but with an additional gusto for a player who took the chance on his potential farewell and one that will leave West Ham as a club legend, whenever he does make an exit.
During a long second-half injury stoppage for Tomas Soucek, Rice was stood in the centre of a pitch, and the fans’ recent "one more year" chant started gradually. Within minutes, it was being bellowed out by all corners of the London Stadium, which you could tell Rice was finding too special to simply ignore.
At full-time, when the players did a lap of appreciation in front of a still largely full London Stadium, Rice took plenty of time to stop and take photos with the fans and looked moved by the reception he received.
It is not yet quite Rice’s final farewell, with two more games left this season and no definite guarantees he will leave this summer, although it looks incredibly likely.
However, with a goal, a number of other shots, roulettes in midfield and just his all-round general brilliance, if that was his last display as a home player at the London Stadium, it is one he can look back on with plenty of pride.
Unsurprisingly, Moyes was asked if it was Rice’s home farewell, but gave very little away as he hopes to have the midfielder at his disposal beyond the end of this season.
One for Manuel Lanzini too?
Less highlighted, but equally worth noting, was a potential farewell too for midfielder Lanzini, whose contract is set expire at the end of next month.
The Argentine, bought on for a substitute cameo appearance, certainly had one to remember when scoring on his 225th appearance at the end of some sublime passing and skill alongside Paqueta.
Having spent the last eight years at the club, Lanzini has certainly gained cult hero status in claret and blue and has been a big part of the club’s success in recent years, as well as having a big role in their battles with avoiding relegation in recent seasons.
Although he has hardly played in the Premier League this season, a well-taken goal in front of an atmospheric and buoyant home crowd who sang his name after his goal showed while we may not have seen much of him this term, he is still a very popular player among supporters.
Moyes is a fan of his too, despite not giving him minutes, waxing lyrical about him at full-time.
"Somebody asked me a similar question earlier and I said, the biggest thing about Manuel Lanzini is that we were 3-0 down against Tottenham," Moyes told football.london. "Lanzini scores the third goal, we come back from 3-0 down. It may have changed the whole thing here for lots of reasons, the belief, how people saw us, how big a night it was, 3-0 down at Tottenham, Lanzini scores a wonder goal as you all know to make it three each.
"Manny has just been really unfortunate this season, we’ve struggled to get him as many games as we’d like, but partly because we’ve not been playing as well, I think that’s been a big reason to that.
"But, to get him today and score was a really big thing and I’m pleased for him. He’s a really good lad, he’s been very loyal to me and the team at the time we’ve been here. A really good professional and I’m pleased for him."
Lucas Paqueta to fill the void
If Rice’s exit is not far away from becoming official, there feels as if there is a vacancy for a new poster boy at West Ham to be filled.
While the likes of Bowen and Said Benrahma have talent and plenty of goals in them, in terms of being able to do things not many other players can, turning matches on its head and getting crowds on their feet, then look no further than Brazilian star Paqueta.
The former Olympique Lyonnais man, who could eventually cost the club as much as £52.7million if all add-ons are triggered, has shown glimpses of his quality throughout this season, but in recent months especially, has kicked on to another level, the one West Ham had hoped to have seen sooner.
Paqueta’s qualities are more than just the tricks and flicks he shows, he has strength and a quality of passing that can create chances for West Ham out of nothing.
Paqueta made four of West Ham’s 11 tackles, twice as many as any of his teammates, as well as finding himself in 27 duels, 12 more than any player, but winning 15 of them.
Making 22 touches more than any other player with 106, Paqueta’s luxury and freedom of play means he does risk losing it often or trying the spectacular option, but considering how often he tries, does get it right more often than not.
Yes, sometimes that style get him into trouble or make him a liability on occasion, but because he can have that effect and create magic out of nothing, he can be afforded more license to do so.
Moyes said after the game that while Paqueta still needs to work on sometimes, taking the simple option, he feels recently, he has kicked on well, adding he has adapted the best of all the signings from last summer.
"I think we’re beginning to see someone who we brought to make assist, score goals if he could. He’s looked much more settled," Moyes told football.london. "Still at times think, don’t do so much, and we’re trying to show him that, but he’s got it in his blood. He always wants to make the hard pass, which is a good thing because it probably leads to a goal.
"We need to see it more but today I thought he was really, really good, exceptionally good and played a big part in a lot of things we did."
Moyes added: "We bought in quite a few players and for me personally, not so many of them hit the ground running. But I think Lucas has been the one who has really, really come through now and shown it.
"It’s a good time for us, because at the end of the season, we needed him. Making some goals, helping us get to a final and obviously, he performed really well today."
A fitting farewell
Given the joy of reaching a European final and considering that hardly any of the club’s supporters were unable to attend the win in Alkmaar, it felt fitting that West Ham were able to put on a show in their final home game of the season. There was a fitting feeling to the day, started off when Rice was named as the Hammer of the Year for the 2022/23 season and continued when the players’ children were their own mascots for the game.
It was helped more when Rice and Lanzini both scored on their potential farewells, but after the game, the players’ families were all invited onto the pitch for a farewell lap, with virtually all West Ham fans staying back to watch it. They even gave a huge cheer when Paqueta’s young son scored a goal.
The atmosphere was brilliant. From before kick-off to a good 20 minutes after full-time, West Ham’s supporters wanted a chance to a celebrate and Moyes and his team were able to give them exactly that.
Sure, they would love a win at Leicester next weekend too, but virtually all eyes now are on that final in Prague where this West Ham team can etch themselves into history.
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