WEST HAM nicked a late winner last night to run out winners in this keenly fought relegation battle at the London stadium and give them momentum heading into tonight’s London derby with Tottenham.

Hammers manager David Moyes acknowledged his side’s good fortune in getting the result against West Brom with a last-gasp injury-time goal from Andy Carroll.

“It didn’t look likely for long periods but we kept at it. We were poor in the first half so changed it a bit in the second half, getting 15 yards further up the pitch,” said Moyes, who felt his team deserved the result after losing out to a controversial late goal against Bournemouth and an offside one in the last home game versus Newcastle. “It was time something went for us,” he said.

The manager was pleased with the two goals from Carroll. “This game suited Andy better than others — he did a good job.”

The home side had little to show in the first half of the game, looking disjointed in their approach play, with one effort seeing Carroll blast over, having met a Pablo Zabaleta cross from the right.

It was the Baggies who opened the scoring half an hour in, as James McClean picked up the ball on the left, cutting in to hit a shot that deflected off Angelo Ogbonna and looped over home keeper Adrian.

West Ham’s dominance in the second half was rewarded in the 58th minute when an Aaron Cresswell cross from the left was met by Carroll who rose to head into the far corner.

The home side continued to live dangerously though, with a West Brom breakaway foiled only by an excellent last-ditch tackle from Ogbonna.

The home fans were resigning themselves to more lost points when Marco Arnautovic got away on the left in the 94th minute, firing his cross just beyond the reach of West Brom stopper Ben Foster to the incoming Carroll, who fired home from a narrow angle.

West Brom manager Alan Pardew admitted his side had been mentally and physically tired for the last 20 minutes. “It is difficult to criticise my team in any way today,” said Pardew.

Moyes expressed his sympathy for West Brom, having to play two games in three days. The midlands side had appealed to the Premier league to get the game postponed but to no avail. “If I was Alan Pardew, I would be completely disappointed with the way the Premier League has set it up for them,” said Moyes.