David Moyes claimed his first win as West Ham United manager after Marko Arnautovic's goal gave the Premier League strugglers a shock 1-0 win over champions Chelsea on Saturday. Arnautovic, the Hammers' £24 million ($32.1 million, 27.3 million euros) record signing, struck in the sixth minute to earn Moyes his first win in his fifth game since succeeding Slaven Bilic.
While the Austrian's neat strike boosted his side's hopes of climbing out of the bottom three, it dealt a severe blow to Chelsea's hopes of defending their title. Victory would have moved Antonio Conte's side level on points with second-place Manchester United and closed the gap to leaders Manchester City to eight points, 24 hours before the top two meet at Old Trafford.
Instead, Chelsea head coach Conte will now watch that game knowing his side could lose yet more ground in the title race. The Italian was left frustrated by his team's under-par display, which was summed up by a late miss from top scorer Alvaro Morata.
For Moyes, the win confirmed West Ham's steady progress since he took charge and justified his team selection, including the decision to stick with goalkeeper Adrian and not recall England international Joe Hart. The Hammers manager also opted to start without a recognised striker, with Andy Carroll, Javier Hernandez, Andre Ayew and Diafra Sakho held back on the bench.
Instead, Moyes asked Michail Antonio to fill the lone forward role and the move had the desired effect as the hard-working home side went ahead via Arnautovic's early strike. Last weekend's narrow defeat at Manchester City appeared to have instilled confidence in Moyes's side, who demonstrated no fear in taking the game to Chelsea. Chelsea had rallied to beat Newcastle United last weekend after falling behind, but their response this time was less convincing. Even Eden Hazard showed signs of being off the pace when he pulled a close-range volley across the face of goal. Conte's men, who had missed out on the chance to top their Champions League group after failing to beat Atletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge in mid-week, lacked their usual zip.
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