This week Slaven Bilic told his players that they must leave their egos in their beds if West Ham were to survive in the Premier League. Whether that was the decisive factor in the 1-0 win over Swansea that now leaves an eight-point gap between them and the bottom three is unclear, but the sighs of relief around the London Stadium at full-time could have knocked over the Orbit sculpture just outside.
A Cheikhou Kouyaté goal just before half-time was enough for West Ham to snag this most vital of three points in a game that virtually nobody could have enjoyed. Not the home team, who had to suffer horrific tension, not the away team, who lost, and not neutrals, who were not exactly provided with an afternoon of rip-roaring entertainment. Not that Bilic, now a little more secure in his post, should or will care.
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