Moyes reveals key to West Ham's surge to victory over ailing Man United

David Moyes said flexibility in attack made the crucial difference in his side's ultimately comfortable 2-0 win over Manchester United - and he defended his decision to field a weaker side in the Carabao Cup loss at Liverpool.

The last game for the Irons before Christmas brought a welcome three points and elevation to sixth place in the Premier League - goals from Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus settling the outcome in six second-half minutes.

It was a marked improvement on the limp cup defeat on Merseyside in midweek.

The West Ham boss acknowledged his team were a bit slow out of the blocks during a drab first-half, but his team sparked into life after the break and fully deserved their win.

"I thought whoever scored the first goal would probably win the game and thankfully we got it," Moyes said.

"We didn't start particularly well, but we kept ourselves in the game and became much more aggressive in the second half and thankfully got those goals that mattered.

"I think the best part of the performance today was probably later on when we put Paqueta up front and Jarrod out wide and he got his goal from there. I want the boys be flexible. There was more good play up front and they are beginning to understand we can interchange and move them around.

"I thought that was our best period of the game when Paqueta went centre forward. He held the ball up brilliantly well, brought people into the game nd got Jarrod in [for his goal].

"He wants to score now Jarrod. He wants to get in there. It was a brilliant ball in from Paqueta. The touch and control. Really good."

Speaking about the controversial team selection at Anfield, the Scot said: "It was on my mind as the week was going on - mainly because of the three games in six days - and we won two of them, so it's not a bad return for us.

"It would have been a tough game, no matter team we put up out there."

Speaking about the irons' placing in the table, Moyes added: "When you sell England's best player at the moment [Declan Rice] and you are still challenging - it's a brilliant number of points for us at this stage - I think we're making pretty good strides. I hope we can keep it going.""