David Moyes hailed his West Ham United side as they finished a memorable 2023 with a 2-0 away win against an Arsenal side who were seeking to go top of the Premier League.
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Goals from Tomas Soucek and Konstantinos Mavropanos earned Moyes his first ever away win against the Gunners in all competitions.
See: West Ham win derby to stop Arsenal returning to top spot
The Hammers, who are next in action on 2 January against Brighton & Hove Albion, end the calendar year sitting sixth in the table and pushing for Europe again, having won the UEFA Europa Conference League in June.
"What about 2023 for us as a club? It’s been fantastic," Moyes told the club’s official website. "And thankfully we’ve finished it off in great fashion today.
“We’ve lost a couple of games conceding five in recent weeks, which I’ve hated. I try not to get my teams to do that, but tonight we’ve defended really well.
“We had two different centre-halves tonight, we lost [Lucas] Paqueta [during the first half], after he picked up an injury in the warm-up.
“So there were lots of things going against us, but I have to say it was a brilliant resolute performance.
"They did everything together, they worked so hard together and we could have even got another right at the end there from the penalty."
New contract talk
Such has been West Ham's impressive form that there is talk of Moyes being rewarded with a new contract, with his current deal due to expire at the end of this season.
"We are getting ready to talk. I don't think any of us are jumping to get it done to quickly," he told Amazon Prime. "We will get it done, I don't see many problems about it."
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Moyes added: "We originally came to make sure West Ham didn't get relegated, but we've grown and got better. We're not dining at the top table.
"We're fine. I get on well with the board. They're thrilled. They're delighted the team are going strong in the Premier League and in Europe."
