Nuno Espirito Santo believes West Ham proved they have the fight and the momentum to survive in the Premier League after a dramatic 2-1 victory over Everton.
Callum Wilson grabbed a stoppage-time winner as West Ham kept their heads above the relegation zone, remaining two points in front of Tottenham who also won at Wolves.
“Nobody is making it easy. It’s going to be a big fight, I think, until the end,” said Hammers boss Nuno.
“But the good thing is that we don’t give up. We’re still on it. The momentum, especially here at the London Stadium, I think it’s a huge factor in the Premier League.”
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s late equaliser, which cancelled out Tomas Soucek’s header, looked to have swung the survival battle Spurs’ way moments after they had taken the lead at Wolves.
It was a goal which briefly dropped West Ham below Spurs and back into the bottom three.
But substitute Wilson, who had scored eight goals in his previous seven appearances against Everton, struck two minutes into time added on for a priceless winner.
Soucek proved his worth in both penalty boxes with two superb clearances, the second from right underneath the crossbar.
His goal was straight out of the David Moyes playbook, from a Jarrod Bowen corner. The duo are arguably Moyes’ most successful signings when he was West Ham boss.
“I agree,” added Nuno. “I think David left a legacy here at the club. He brought success, he brought trophies. And he did it with Jarrod, with Tomas and some more that are still here in the squad.”
It was a hammer blow for Moyes, making his first return to the London Stadium since he left two summers ago, and on his 63rd birthday as well.
The reunion brought up the Scot’s 750th match as a Premier League boss, but their bid to qualify for Europe took a dent with a dramatic late defeat, and the contribution of Soucek to their downfall was not lost on him.
“B****y hell,” he smiled. “He’s great, does great. He’s done brilliant for West Ham. His worth has been enormous. Because of his goals, the type of boy he is, everything about him. He epitomises a lot of things you want as a coach.”
There was controversy when Mateus Fernandes grappled with Thierno Barry in the area and swatted the ball away with his hand, but no penalty was awarded.
The PGMOL said it was deemed that “Fernandes accidentally handled the ball”.
Moyes added: “It’s not as if the ball comes onto his hand, his arm goes towards the ball.
“I think today’s the first time I’ve heard the word ‘accidental’ being used. I think that word had been taken out of the vocabulary really.”
Everton did equalise shortly afterwards when Vitalii Mykolenko crossed, James Tarkowski headed the ball down and Dewsbury-Hall lashed it high into the net.
However, West Ham showed they are far from finished in this relegation battle and when Bowen knocked down El Hadji Malick Diouf’s cross and Wilson tapped it home.
