West Ham set up a tantalising run-in after returning from the international break with victory over ailing Everton.
David Moyes’s side have a shot at history over the next two months and this victory - taking them back into the Premier League’s top six - was the perfect start.
Jarrod Bowen marked his return from injury with the winner and some crucial minutes before facing Lyon in the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday as West Ham showed a ruthless touch to put Frank Lampard’s squirming Toffees into deeper trouble.
Hammers fans were treated to a nice surprise when Bowen’s name appeared on the team sheet having missed almost a month through injury.
The Hammers have desperately missed the 25-year-old’s clinical touch in the final third during his absence and the winger was at the heart of a bright start for the hosts.
Pablo Fornals saw a low shot blocked after a cute one-two between Ryan Fredericks and Bowen down the right before the former was quick to play in Michail Antonio after pouncing on a mistake by Richarlison, with Michael Keane having to concede a corner from the West Ham striker’s effort.
A promising start fizzled into a flat half an hour as both sides struggled to get any sort of hold on the game, before a shot across the bows fired West Ham into life.
Fredericks had to be sharp to race ahead of Richarlison after the Brazilian had rounded Lukasz Fabianski and was lining up to finish into an empty net. Fredericks can be a liability at times but his pace dug West Ham out when it mattered.
Jolted to life by the near miss, West Ham drove forward through Bowen once more, the England hopeful felled on the edge of the box by Mason Holgate.
West Ham are a serious threat from set pieces but it has been more than two years since they last scored directly from one in the Premier League. That was Aaron Cresswell stepping up against Manchester United and he didn’t disappoint here, shaping a superb effort into the top right to leave Jordan Pickford stranded.
West Ham kicked on from there, keen to capitalise on that lack of “b*******” identified by Frank Lampard in the Everton ranks. Antonio pushed past Pickford but the angle was too tight and he could only find the side netting.
It wasn’t proving quite so easy to down the Toffees as many would expect. Richarlison prodded one over after latching onto a long ball from Pickford before, after the interval, Alex Iwobi picked up a loose ball in midfield and played in Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who clipped the top of the bar.
Everton were re-discovering a backbone and were soon level. Fabianski swung a fist to clear from the corner but sent the ball straight up. Richarlison collected and teed up Holgate, whose effort deflected in off the boot of Pablo Fornals.
Perhaps still getting up to speed after the international break, both sides looked rather untidy in midfield, but West Ham were sharper to exploit it. Having played a part in the equaliser, Fornals was quick to make amends with a first time ball after Iwobi had lost possession inside the West Ham half.
The Spaniard sent Antonio clear through and while Pickford stopped his effort, the rebound fell straight to Bowen who provided a deft finish, bouncing the ball over the sprawling Iwobi and into the open net.
Everton’s resurgence had lasted a matter of minutes.
Having gifted possession to West Ham for the Bowen goal, they shot themselves in the foot once more when captain Michael Keane, already on a yellow, flew through Antonio on the edge of the area and was swifty shown a second yellow and dismissed.
From there West Ham managed the sort of control this contest had lacked to that point, with Everton hardly making into the opposing half and Moyes able to withdraw Bowen and Said Benrahma ahead of Thursday’s historic European night.
This was a near perfect start to what could be a tremendous few weeks for those in east London.
