West Ham nail down three massive points in Everton dominance

West Ham traveled north to visit Everton in their post international break match in search of their first win of the season. It was tough at times as chances were shared, but West Ham were carried to a win by a dominant performance from a cohesive team.

West Ham started slowly in this match but took advantage of a counterattack headed up by Arnautovic to nab the first goal of the match and put the pressure on the home side. Everton were probing up the wings early and often in this match so Obiang’s ability to step up in the center of the field as an option was an underrated aspect of the match from the defensive midfielder that would continue for a full 90 minutes.

The best way to understand how this match played out for West Ham is on a player-by-player basis, explaining how they excelled in their roles. We start with the man of the match, Andriy Yarmolenko.

Andriy Yarmolenko

More from Green Street Hammers - West Ham

Welcome to the starting XI, Yarmolenko! The Ukrainian monster looked as advertised today for West Ham scoring a brace in his first Premier League match as a starter. For the extent of his time on the pitch Yarmolenko went toe-to-toe with fellow Premier League newcomer Lucas Digne, and while chances were traded down that wing, Yarmolenko blew by his coverage on his first goal and put him on roller-skates for the second.

The first goal came from a strong build up in the counter-attack between Pedro Obiang and Marko Arnautovic. Arnie eventually took the ball flicked over the top from Obiang, dragged the lone defender in the box, and smoothly slotted it across to Yarmo for the easy goal.

The second was an absolutely beautiful strike. Noble intercepted a pass from keeper Jordan Pickford and after a foul sent the ball towards Yarmolenko he stepped up into the box and stutter-stepped to create an opening, curling in a top of the box shot. This was an example of the Yarmolenko West Ham supporters truly thought they were getting.

Moving forward there is no doubt that he’ll now be a starter for West Ham. Yarmolenko causes a lot of problems with his size, and once on the ball, he’s hard to take possession away from. This was a massive step in the determination of Pellegrini’s best XI.

Marko Arnautovic

Literally, the only thing not to like about Arnuatovic is that he has sustained a few wear-and-tear injuries this season like the nagging knee injury he picked up in this match. Before leaving, Arnautovic performed like he always does, bringing speed, physicality, and intensity to the speartip of West Ham’s attack.

Having scored West Ham’s previous two goals this season Arnaotivic was happy to find a wide open Yarmolenko in the box to spread the goal scoring out for the West Ham attack, but after Yarmolenko tied up the West Ham goal-scoring race minutes later, Arnautovic was not going to sit back any longer.

The Austrian plowed forward into the box playing a give-and-go play with advanced midfielder Obiang who slid the ball behind Arnuatovic’s marker which was then slapped in passed Pickford. The injury is a bit of a concern for the striker especially with Chelsea coming to the east side as West Ham will need their main man to take down the Premier League leaders.

Related Story. With Wilshere out who starts in midfield for West Ham?. light

Central Midfielders

West Ham’s central midfield played well today and made the absence of Wilshere feel minimal in this win. Consisting of Mark Noble, Pedro Obiang, and Declan Rice West Ham’s midfield trio lined up in the middle of a 4-3-3 formation and shut down the majority of Everton’s pressure.

Mark Noble returned to starting action in this match and despite his assist on Yarmolenko’s second goal he looked a little slow and sluggish in the midfield. It was fine-tuning that was off for West Ham’s captain as he missed clear passes and overhit long balls regularly. He made up for this with veteran positioning, often forcing Everton into fouls or as was the case on West Ham’s second goal, capitalizing on Toffees’ mistakes.

Pedro Obiang spent the match in a box-to-box role today frequently getting forward and playing with Arnautovic while remaining responsible defensively in the middle of the pitch. Obiang looked himself in the midfield as he was sticking to the Everton forwards making life difficult all match. Obiang needed a big performance with Wilshere out and he had one. He added one assist in the match and has his hat in the ring to start against Chelsea.

Declan Rice returned to West Ham’s starting XI like his fellow central midfielders and looked just as dominant as he did at center back last season. Rice built off of his strong match against AFC Wimbledon by sticking to the basics and prioritizing defending the back line. What Rice can do for West Ham is basically slip into a back-three role when defending then bursting forward with his speed to jump back to the midfield and help in progressing possession forward. Its time for a new contract for Rice, as well as a cemented starting role.

The aforementioned players stood out but the performances of Balbuena, Diop, Fabianski, and Anderson cannot be overlooked. The fact that there are so many names that could have been highlighted shows what a cohesive effort West Ham put forward in this match.

Next. West Ham’s FIFA 19 ratings: Reality versus what they should be. dark

It was a dominant performance and couldn’t have come at a better time for West Ham who needed all three points. With the Irons no longer in the basement of the Premier League, it is time to build on this game with two home statement matches approaching – bring it on, Chelsea and Manchester United.