West Ham United manager David Moyes believes that the 3-0 scoreline did not reflect his team's performance following their defeat by Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The Hammers claimed a 2-0 victory over the Red Devils in the reverse fixture just over a month ago, but they failed to get on the scoresheet this time around as they only hit three of their 22 shots on target.
After Rasmus Hojlund opened the scoring for Man United midway through the first half on his 21st birthday, Emerson Palmieri missed a glorious chance to restore parity for West Ham shortly after the interval, before a deflected strike from Alejandro Garnacho at the other end doubled the hosts' lead less than a minute later.
Man-of-the-match Garnacho netted his second of the afternoon and Man United's third six minutes from time to secure all three points for Erik ten Hag's men, condemning West Ham to their first league defeat since December 10.
Moyes has acknowledged that he was disappointed with the performances of his West Ham side in recent draws with Sheffield United and Bournemouth, but the Scotsman was able to take positives from the loss at Old Trafford.
Asked if the 3-0 scoreline flattered Man United during his post-match press conference, Moyes said: "Yeah I do. I didn't enjoy the last couple of performances. The draw against Bournemouth - I didn't think we played well and I didn't enjoy the point against Sheffield United, but I enjoyed my team's performance today.
"I didn't enjoy the result, but I'm hoping we can build on today's performance. I thought we played much better today. I thought we made quite a few opportunities but we just didn't quite have out shooting boots on to convert the chances.
"We beat Manchester United at the London Stadium - we may have played better today that we did at the London Stadium.
"The first goal (conceded) was disappointing because United hadn't really given us any kind of problems at all. We started the second half poorly and it just wasn't meant to be."
West Ham were forced to change goalkeepers at half time after Alphonse Areola sustained a knock following a collision with captain Kurt Zouma midway through the first half.
Lukasz Fabianski came on for Areola, but Moyes has allayed fears that the Frenchman has sustained a serious injury and insisted that the half-time change was only a precautionary one.
"[Areola is] fine," said Moyes "We took a precaution at half time and made the decision to change after a knock in the first half.
"We spoke to him at half time and thought why would we take the risk?"
Moyes has also revealed that star playmaker Lucas Paqueta is "only a week or two away from returning" to the first-team fold having spent the last month on the sidelines with a calf injury.
West Ham's only other injury concern is with striker Michail Antonio, who has been sidelined since mid-November with a knee injury, but he is making progress in his recovery.
The Hammers, who have slipped to seventh in the Premier League table following their loss at Old Trafford, now turn their attention to next weekend's encounter with title hopefuls Arsenal at the London Stadium. body check tags ::
