Tough Toffees give Zola plenty to chew on

THIS was supposed to be a story of one club continuing to climb out of a crisis and another hurtling headlong into one but Everton clearly had not read the script.

David Moyes’ side defied their dire form and chronic injury list to notch a much-needed first win in five Premier League and puncture West Ham’s swelling optimism, shoving them back into the relegation zone.

Strikes from Louis Saha and Dan Gosling put the Merseysiders into a position of control and, while Tony Hibbert’s own-goal caused some anxious moments in the final stages, they were not to be denied three precious points.

“We have not played that well, so we cannot ask for any more,” said Moyes. “When it was 2-0, I felt we had shored it up with nearly a perfect away performance where you have got the goals, but did not play that well.

“The key is always to find a winning formula, and today we have found one. But we need to play better than we have done.

“At the moment, we are lacking just a bit of quality. October was a tough month, with probably too many matches for the same group of players.

“Nevertheless, I thought they showed great character to hang in there at the end of what has been a difficult period for them.”

For West Ham, this was a chastening afternoon which cast more gloom on Upton Park. They had started in lively fashion, with their England U21 forward Zavon Hines particularly lively.

Hines, who had netted a dramatic last-minute winner against Aston Villa in midweek, was quickly into his stride yesterday, bursting into the left side of the penalty area, before going down under a shoulder charge from Hibbert, as referee Alan Wiley waved away the half-hearted appeals for a spot-kick.

Everton deployed five in midfield and were content to let West Ham have plenty of the ball, waiting patiently for their chance.

However, Gianfranco Zola’s men continued to look dangerous, as Julien Faubert flashed a low cross through the six-yard box following a sweeping passing move.

Hines again caused a threat down the left side, and Scott Parker almost capitalised when he got past Joseph Yobo, but then shot straight at Tim Howard.

The Everton defender redeemed himself when coming across to cut out Parker’s through ball, which would have sent Hines clear.

Then, out of nothing, Everton took the lead on 26 minutes. Tim Cahill battled to hold the ball up on the edge of the West Ham box, before laying it back to Saha.

The French striker, 20 yards out, needed no second invitation and drilled his first-time shot low into the bottom right corner.

West Ham, who battled back from 2-0 down to draw with Arsenal here last month, are used to dealing with adversity but Everton revelled in the confidence supplied by Saha’s goal, even though the Frenchman was forced off on 57 minutes with a recurrence of his calf injury.

In the 64th minute, they duly plundered a decisive second. Cahill and Yakubu, on as a substitute, battled for possession at the edge of the penalty area, before the substitute pushed the ball out to Gosling on the overlap down the right.

His first shot was blocked by Robert Green, but the ball fell straight back to the Everton winger, who this time drilled it into the net.

That appeared to be that, but West Ham hit back moments later.

Alessandro Diamanti sent a deep pass over the Everton defence and straight into Stanislas’ path. The West Ham forward clipped his shot past the advancing Howard, but the ball did not appear to have enough pace to roll over the line and Hibbert looked set to clear, only for the defender to boot the ball into his own net as Upton Park erupted.

The West Ham faithful sensed an equaliser, with Diamanti curling a 20-yard effort just over before Hines stabbed wide after getting ahead of Yobo.

Howard saved Diamanti’s free-kick and Everton survived a couple of scrambles in the six-yard box as the Hammers were denied a second successive dramatic finale.

“It is a big question mark for me, how can we lose a game like that”, said Zola.

“We have to analyse the problems first and find solutions.

“I felt the players gave everything. Their attitude and their commitment was very good.

“But we have to find out straight away what is not working well, because it is not doing us any favours. I am not worried because I think we can certainly improve the situation.” Zola also insisted he has not yet given up hope of seeing striker Dean Ashton back playing again.

The 25-year-old is battling to recover full fitness from an ankle problem, the origins of which stem back to an injury while on England duty after his appearance in the 2006 FA Cup final.

Reports have suggested the former Norwich striker, signed for £7million in January 2006, was set to retire, and seek compensation from the Football Association.

“Until someone tells me he is not going to make it, I am still confident he is going to come back,” said Zola.

REFEREE: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire) 7: Low-key performance from the match official. Kept the game flowing and had no controversial incidents to contend with.

MATCH RATING: ** West Ham’s late rally sparked life into the game but Everton’s blanket defence ensured this was never going to be anything but a hard-fought away victory. Forgettable.