West Ham 0-2 Everton: Toffees punish woeful Hammers display
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Everton winger Bernard scored his first Premier League goal to cap a superb display at London Stadium
Everton took advantage of a "complete disaster" of a performance from West Ham to cruise to victory and move past the Hammers into the top half of the Premier League table.
Marco Silva's side were utterly dominant in a sparkling first-half showing which could have brought them more than goals from Kurt Zouma and Bernard.
West Ham were looking for a fourth home Premier League win in a row for the first time in 17 years but had no answer to the visitors' energy and imagination and were only saved from an embarrassing scoreline by goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski and the woodwork.
"It was one of those bad days when you could not make two passes in a row," Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini told Match of the Day.
"We had a complete disaster, both attacking and defending. Without a doubt it was the worst performance of the year."
Everton were less impressive after the break, but by then the damage had been done, and Silva's side are now just a point behind Wolves in seventh with the prospect of Europa League football once more on the horizon.
Fluid Everton at their best
Both clubs are approaching the end of the first season of their latest expensive reboots under new management - and on this evidence there are far more reasons for optimism on Merseyside.
Silva has not won over everyone at Goodison Park but this attacking display, fresh from a win over Chelsea before the international break, bodes well.
Silva says Toffees still have to improve despite win
Right from kick-off the visitors were quicker in body and mind, forcing mistakes at the back and taking a fifth-minute lead when Zouma was allowed to head Gylfi Sigurdsson's corner down and in.
If the marking from Issa Diop and the placement of captain Aaron Cresswell on the post was slack, it merely set the template for the rest of the opening period as the Hammers' back four were picked apart almost at will.
Everton's front four of Bernard, Sigurdsson, Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin were able to get in on goal time and again, with only a combination of desperate clearances, poor final balls and the alert keeping of Fabianski preventing the visitors from piling on the misery.
Bernard eventually added the inevitable second when he tapped in Seamus Coleman's low cross as Everton helped themselves to seven shots on target - their highest total in the first half of a Premier League game since November 2012 against Reading.
The second half was largely uneventful, although Richarlison did thump a header against the crossbar and Fabianski ended the night with seven saves - six more than England number one Jordan Pickford was required to make at the other end.
"I was very proud of our performance and seeing our desire from the first minute," Silva told MOTD.
"We were the best team on the pitch, we were playing good football and creating chances. Two nil at half time was a good result for them because it could have been five or six nil. We created chance after chance."
Back to the drawing board for Pellegrini
West Ham 0-2 Everton: Manuel Pellegrni says Hammers "missed a great opportunity"
West Ham had finally looked like making their troubled move to London Stadium work, with the hosts unbeaten in their previous six games in Stratford, but there were no home comforts to be taken from this chastening display.
With no Felipe Anderson or Mark Noble in the side, Manuel Pellegrini's XI were terrible in the first 45 minutes and the Chilean manager saw his side loudly booed off at the end of each half.
The hosts mustered just one shot on target all evening and even the hitherto excellent Declan Rice was left struggling as Andre Gomes and Idrissa Gueye ruled midfield for Everton.
Up front, Marko Arnautovic continues to struggle. The 29-year-old scored twice for Austria during the break but hasn't found the net for the Hammers since asking to leave for a £200,000-a-week deal in China in January and limped off to the sound of jeers in the 67th minute.
Their toothless display saw a total of just three attempts on goal in the game, their lowest tally in a home Premier League game since the 2005-06 season.
West Ham have already drawn level with their points total from last season but, with games against Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham to come next month face sleepwalking to the end of the campaign.
Man of the match - Andre Gomes (Everton)
All of Everton's attackers were excellent in the first half but it was Gomes who ran the show - he made more passes (63) than any other player
Hammers' home run ends - stats of the day
West Ham lost for the first time in seven Premier League games at London Stadium (W4 D2).
Everton have scored two or more goals in three consecutive away Premier League games for the first time since December 2016.
West Ham faced nine shots on target in this game, the most by an opposition side at London Stadium in the Premier League since May 2017 (11 by Liverpool).
Everton secured a victory for the first time in their last 11 Premier League games in London (D3 L7).
Everton boss Marco Silva ended a run of nine matches in London without a win in all competitions (W0 D1 L8).
Kurt Zouma has scored two goals in 26 Premier League games this season, as many as he netted in his previous four campaigns in the competition (2 in 81 apps).
Since his debut for Everton in August 2017, Gylfi Sigurdsson has been directly involved in 23 goals in the Premier League, seven more than any other player for the club (16 goals, 7 assists).
Bernard scored his first Premier League goal in his 28th appearance in the competition, ending a run of 1585 minutes without a goal.
What's next?
West Ham have next weekend off before travelling to take on Chelsea on Monday 8 April (20:00 BST), while Everton host Arsenal next Sunday afternoon (14:05).