West Ham gives departing Moyes a winning sendoff at London Stadium with victory over Luton
LONDON (AP) — West Ham manager David Moyes said farewell to London Stadium while Luton was left almost certainly waving goodbye to the English Premier League after a 3-1 defeat on Saturday.
Albert Sambi Lokonga looked set to spoil Moyes’ party and give Luton a chance of taking the survival fight to the final day when he headed the visitors into a sixth-minute lead.
But second-half goals from James Ward-Prowse, Tomas Soucek and teenager George Earthy gave Moyes a winning sendoff in his final home match in charge.
In contrast, Luton manager Rob Edwards and some of his players were in tears, seemingly resigned to an immediate return to the Championship, as they applauded the travelling support after the final whistle.
Luton, which is in third-to-last place, was three points behind Nottingham Forest but with a much inferior goal difference with one game left.
After months of speculation, and following just four wins from 21 matches since the turn of the year, West Ham finally announced on Monday that Moyes was leaving after four-and-a-half years in charge.
Julen Lopetegui is set to usher in a new era at the club, but Saturday gave West Ham fans — even those fed up with Moyes and his perceived defensive tactics — the chance to thank the Scot for his second spell in charge: The successive top-seven finishes, the three seasons in Europe and, of course, that night in Prague last summer when West Ham won the Europa Conference League for a first major trophy since 1980.
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