Proof of how far West Ham United have come in 12 months is that manager David Moyes was disappointed with his side's performance in a 2-0 win over Leeds United that sent them into fifth place in the Premier League on Monday.
First-half goals by Jesse Lingard and Craig Dawson secured the points for West Ham who are now two points behind fourth-placed Chelsea with a game in hand.
Leeds twice had two goals disallowed before West Ham scored and captain Declan Rice said they had "won ugly".
Moyes agreed that it was not the best performance, although he was understandably delighted with the way his side ground out an eighth league win since the turn of the year.
"We were resilient, we didn't play well tonight," Moyes, who helped West Ham avoid relegation last season after replacing Manuel Pellegrini, said. "Not a good performance by our standards. The players are disappointed.
"Leeds United do a lot to you and make it difficult to play. We had a bit of control but I didn't enjoy it."
West Ham had moved into the top four last month before a defeat by Manchester City and Moyes said the prospect of vying for a Champions League berth was a huge carrot.
"When you get near the top it gives you a big incentive," Moyes said. "I was gutted when we dropped out the top four.
"We are doing really well and having a good season. It could be a great season. I'm not saying we will finish (in the top four) but we need to hang in and see what we can do."
Lingard converted a rebound from his own saved penalty in the 21st minute for his fourth goal in six appearances since arriving on loan from Manchester United.
Dawson headed in West Ham's second goal seven minutes later.
Leeds twice had goals ruled out before West Ham scored and squandered several good opportunities to get back into the game.
In the end a frustrating night for Marcelo Bielsa's side left them in 11th spot.
England forward Lingard arrived at West Ham with something of a point to prove after slipping down the pecking order at Old Trafford and he has not disappointed.
The 28-year-old has given Moyes a different attacking option alongside the power of Michail Antonio and is clearly enjoying himself since his move to east London.
His surging run into the penalty area in the 20th minute caught Luke Ayling flat-footed and the Leeds defender stuck out a leg to bring Lingard down for a clear penalty.
Lingard's penalty was poor though and Illan Meslier made a save, only for the ball to squirm from his grasp and back out for a relieved Lingard to convert at the second attempt.
It was against the run of play because Leeds had twice had goals ruled out, firstly when Helder Costa played in Tyler Roberts to score, but Costa was ruled offside with a VAR check going fractionally West Ham's way.
Patrick Bamford then fired in at the near post but the ball had just gone out of play before Raphinha's cut-back.
"Leeds caused us problems, two disallowed goals, we had to wake up and get into the game," West Ham skipper Declan Rice said. "We could have been one or two goals down and that would have been hard to come back against a team like Leeds."
West Ham doubled their lead when Dawson escaped his marker from Aaron Cresswell's corner and headed in from close range.
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