Everton 2, West Ham 0: Slaven Bilic casts envious glance at Toffees’ “cruelty” as Hammers come unstuck
Everton 2, West Ham United 0
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic urged his players to be more “cruel” after their three-match winning run came to an abrupt halt at the hands of Everton and familiar foe Romelu Lukaku.
Striker Lukaku headed his ninth goal in as many games for the Toffees against the Hammers and midfielder Ross Barkley sealed the hosts first win in six Premier League matches 15 minutes from time.
Read more: West Ham facing calls to play games behind closed doors
The result lifted sixth-placed Everton back to within five points of the top-flight summit, while West Ham remain 16th, three points above the relegation zone.
“They were more lethal, or more mature or more cruel. When they were offered something by us, they took it straight away, which we didn’t do when we created or they made mistakes,” said Bilic.
“Credit to them. But there is a bitter taste because we should have taken something out of this game. I had a feeling before the game and at half-time that it was there. But they deserve it, because they did it.”
Everton boss Ronald Koeman praised Barkley, having criticised the 22-year-old’s all-round contribution earlier in the season.
“He was working hard, tackling offensively, and important in the game," said Koeman. "He was really the player between the defence and the front to create, and that is what you like to see.”
How Everton won
West Ham started the brighter, Pedro Obiang shooting over and Manuel Lanzini firing wide from a tight angle after jinking into space in the penalty area.
Barkley served notice of his threat by drawing a brilliant reaction save from Adrian, but the Hammers goalkeeper was beaten just after half-time when he spilled a Seamus Coleman shot and Yannick Bolasie beat Winston Reid to the rebound to hook across goal for Lukaku.
The Hammers rallied and Michail Antonio seized on an Ashley Williams slip to force Joel Robles into a close-range stop before Bryan Oviedo’s last-ditch tackle denied substitute Andre Ayew.
But Barkley quashed any comeback hopes with a controlled half-volley from Lukaku’s cross to the back post, and Adrian saved from the Belgian and Tom Cleverley as Everton threatened to run amok.