Winston Reid smashed home a 93rd winner through a crowded penalty ara to end a game of sheer frustration for the Irons and their fans.
Reid latched onto a ball back from the right sent his defender the wrong way and fired home from just outside the box to set the celebrations going at a stadium which has seen too much misery over the opening weeks of the season.
The Irons had been entirely dominant for the for half an hour when Payet was in dazzling form producing three brilliant runs into the area where his best chance hit an upright and the other was well saved by the Sunderland keeper.
It looked a matter of time before we grabbed the opener but with Zaza returning to his earlier lack lustre displays there was little happening up front apart from some valiant efforts by Lanzini to play as a false centre forward.
As a result the Hammers attacks and creativity slowy subsided and the visitors had a couple of great chances which were saved by Adrian.
Zaza was eventually hauled off midway through the second half for Calleri and you felt for Ashley Fletcher who was called into the action seven mnutes from the end.
To be fair he looked more nuscular and threatening in the time he was on the pitch than Zaza had done previously.
In the end there were no complaints as collected another three points to make it seven from nine but the truth is we have nothing up front at all and need a striker in a hurry.
Come on Diafra Sakho we truly need you.
Six points out of six and two clean sheets – Well done Slav. Can see the ongoing improvements in confidence, ball retention and passing accuracy so looking much better. Biggest remaining concern is up front, but we all know that. Had Zaza’s bicycle kick gone in then it might have been a different story but it didn’t and it wasn’t. He still looks immobile and off the pace I’m sad to say. But this alone ain’t enough to spoil another win. Well done Slav and the boys.
That was desperate Dan stuff. The team dominated but there was clearly no cutting edge.
I fear Zaza might have crossed the point of no return; maybe not literally as inevitably we will see him a few more times yet. The man was slow both in thought and action and he couldn’t do the basic things right, like not losing the ball with his poor first touch. The delicious pass from Ogbonna was an obvious example.
Sak, Ayew, AC, anyone please!
Huge win. Here are my ratings:
Adrian 6 – important save to deny khazri but a very quiet day for San Miguel.
Kouyate 7 – starting to look more and more comfortable in this position. Broke up the play well.
Reid 7 – struggled with Defoe a couple of times but did well and of course got the crucial winner.
Ogbonna 8 – Ogbonna looks so much more comfortable in a back 3. I presume this is because it is what he is used to from his time in Italy. Defended well but also brought the ball forward and played intelligent passes such as the great through ball to Zaza before the inevitable happened
Antonio 5 – what good is it if you’re strong and fast if you have no final ball? Rightly taken off early 2nd half by Bilic. Some might say there were a lack of options in the box but that’s no excuse for failing to beat the first man or hitting the cross straight out of play.
Fernandes 7 – I like the look of this kid. He looks comfortable on the ball and likes to get forward. He may have struggled a little defensively and was a bit lucky in the first half when he got the wrong side of the attacker and fouled him on the edge of the box but he didn’t lose heart and it’s worth remembering this isn’t his natural position.
Noble 6 – tries hard as always but wasteful when he gets in good positions. We need better quality than Noble
Obiang 7 – continues to impress and break the play up well as well as trying to be positive on the ball.
Lanzini 7 – as always some nice touches and good movement but it wasn’t easy against a Sunderland side who came to defend.
Payet 8 (MOTM) – outstanding first half and unlucky not to score 2 or 3. Started to tire towards the end but got yet another assist. It’s not easy for Payet out there when the quality in the box is so poor and so much is expected of him. His run in the first half almost topped the middlesborough goal.
Zaza 3 – like playing with 10 men. I know the guy is really low on confidence but trying hard isn’t good enough. He makes odd decisions like trying to kick the ball when he just needs to head it. Often fails to get into the box. Gets caught offside. Very little movement..OK, I’m going to be nice and leave it at that.
Subs
Feghouli 6 – the crosses weren’t quite coming off but he added pace to the attack and I believe he deserves more game time.
Callieri 5 – struggled to get into the game
Fletcher 5 – struggled to get into the game and the one time he was put into a good position by Payet he fluffed his lines. But he’s young and it’s good to see him on the pitch.
Bilic 6 – a lucky man as there was a case for the late winner being offside. I like the fact he kept the same formation as the Palace game but when something isn’t working he needs to make the changes sooner.
Ref Bobby Madley 7 – no real complaints today. Seemed consistent with his decisions. We had a case for 2 penalties but they weren’t clearcut although I may need to see the replays again.
Thanks Jmmy – they are on the site. Nice to get a contribution rather than boos from the sidelines. 🙂
Hahahahahahaha yeah thats right Hugh,you praise the man who doesnt boo from the sidelines hahahaha yeah he is only the man that has been calling Zaza a turd this week.
Keep this site classy Hugh hahahaha what a joke.
Andy Carrolls. What is your problem? I maybe used a few choice words, I’m new here, I didn’t read any house rules. It seems for you if I get abuse it’s fine but If I give any back it’s not fine.
I’m sure everyone else was becoming as increasingly frustrated as I was. Toothless up front, yet again. I’ve read that Ayew is just about fit, so I’m sure he’ll get game time next match. Zaza has had enough time to show what he hasn’t got. Both Callieri and Fletcher looked better on the ball in their short cameos.
We will still need a decent front man, though.
Carroll is not yet fit and Sakho might be left out in the cold and leave in January.
We were lucky to get away with three points today. If Sunderland had scored that one, I’d probably be screaming about offside and interference.
Let’s hope for better.
The big plusses were Fernandes and Feghouli good performances especially Fernandes.The disappointment for me was the non performance from Antonio, thought he played like a kid who had the ump because he was played out of position.
Yeah agree with much of what has been said, Fletcher looked good when he came on and Callieri showed some decent movement without really looking that much of a threat. Fernandes considering he was out of position and kept cutting inside showed a great range of passing spraying the ball out wide aswell as some clever short passes, Kouyate looks better at CB than he ever has in midfield, I thought the defence played well, Adrian could do with communicating better with them but hard to be too judgemental, Noble had a good first half but instead of putting his hands on his head when Payet hit the post should have stepped up and swept the ball in the net, even I struggle to find too much positive to say about Zaza in that performance although he was physical won a few headers and linked the play up better than Andy Carroll would, the difference between the Palace game and that game is that he didn’t close the defenders down fast enough, part of which is down to the complete lack of ambition shown by Sunderland sitting deep and part of which is his energy wasn’t at the same level as last week. For me our passing was often too slow, against Palace with the ball zipping off the surface we were forced by the conditions to play the ball quickly and I hope this is something that gets addressed because it will help us if it does. Was jumping around at the end so much I nearly did myself an injury but that was one of the best moments at the new stadium, let’s turn Chelsea over now COYI !!!