West Ham have guaranteed a place in the top 7 of the Premier League this Christmas after beating Manchester United.

It was a cagey affair overall, with both sides seemingly of the mindset to not lose, as the first half especially reflected 2 sides struggling to really get a foothold on the game.

The 2nd half though showed an increase in tempo and desire from David Moyes’ side, who looked more menacing on the ball as we tried to carve out an opening.

Then just after the 70th minute mark, the game flipped firmly in the favour of the cockney boys.

Lucas Paqueta lifted an exquisite flick into the path of Jarrod Bowen, who scored his 11th league goal of the season to send the London Stadium wild.

Then just 4 minutes later, the game was wrapped up as Paqueta again capitalised on an error by playing through Mohammed Kudus who smashed in the bottom corner to give all 3 points to West Ham.

Manchester United were gone at that point and with the atmosphere buzzing there was a feeling another could follow, but the game ended with a very much needed 2-0 win, especially after the result in midweek.

The West Ham Way Podcast host Dave Walker was quite rightly thrilled with the win, highlighting how well things are setting up for the 2nd half of the campaign.

“That was a big result today,” said a jubilant Walker. “To be 6th at Christmas (subject to other results) and top of the Europa league group is a good place to be.

“We needed that after the car crash on Wednesday night. A nice early Christmas present!”