Moyes: The shackles were off and Paquetá was fantastic

David Moyes was smiling again after his West Ham United team produced another fine performance to defeat Leeds United 3-1 at London Stadium.

While grit, determination and organization were the order of the day in Thursday’s UEFA Europa Conference League semi-final second-leg win at AZ Alkmaar, creativity and flair took centre-stage as the Hammers won their final home Premier League game of the 2022/23 season in style.

Things looked a little ominous when Rodrigo volleyed the visitors in front midway through the first half, but the Irons leveled through Declan Rice’s volley before the interval.

And, with the pressure of potential relegation lifted by results elsewhere on Sunday, the Irons played with increasing freedom as the second half wore on.

With Paquetá and Hammer of the Year Rice imperious, the hosts went ahead when Jarrod Bowen poked in Danny Ings’ inch-perfect through ball, then made sure of the victory when the Brazilian beat two defenders and set up substitute Manuel Lanzini to emphatically thump in from close-range.

Having guided his team to a major European final and Premier League safety, Moyes was able to enjoy the post-match lap of thanks, which was enjoyed by the tens of thousands of West Ham supporters who had remained in their seats to cheer on their Prague-bound heroes.

We’re making a habit of ending the season with these sorts of wins.

I can remember beating Everton here and Big Sam was the manager that day as well. It was great to get this victory on the back of the midweek result as well. I’m really pleased. The players showed great mentality and great character to come from a goal down.

We had to dig quite deep.

They had a couple of half-chances in the opening 15 minutes which I wasn’t too pleased about. But, overall, we worked our way back into the game and we played well in the second half. I thought we probably should have scored more.