Bilic hails ´magnificent´ West Ham comeback

Slaven Bilic hailed his side’s “magnificent” comeback after a dramatic 3-2 victory over 10-man Everton at Goodison Park kept West Ham in the hunt for a Champions League place.

The hosts led through Romelu Lukaku and Aaron Lennon doubled Everton’s advantage after Kevin Mirallas was sent off for two bookable offences.

West Ham roared back when Michail Antonio scored for the third Premier League game in a row and Diafra Sakho equalised before Dimitri Payet hit a late winner – all three goals coming in the last 12 minutes.

Bilic was delighted with his side, who remain a point outside the top four following their fourth straight win in all competitions.

“It was a brilliant win for us,” he told Sky Sports. 

“We are a team with great quality. We are a team that is together.

“We have a strong character and this is not the first time we’ve gone down and come back.

“To do it at Goodison against a good Everton team is magnificent.

“Overall we showed everything and we deserved to win the game.”

West Ham’s next game is an FA Cup quarter-final at Manchester United next Sunday but Bilic highlighted the importance of every game between now and the end of the season.

He added: “I talked to the guys. Every game until the end of the season is a cup final for us so we are not thinking about two games in a row, three games in a row.

“The next game is special for us as it is an FA Cup quarter-final, but we have a lot of cup finals before the end of the season.”