It doesn’t matter that West Ham had just one effort on target in the whole ninety minutes. Or that the possession statistics show the Irons managed ‘just’ 29%: After the first ten minutes this figure was nearer 10% as Hammers fans feared the worst.
A solitary chance, a solitary point, with their talisman Crysencio Summerville on the sidelines: West Ham would have leapt at the chance to leave their stadium with what is likely just a temporary step upwards in the league, against one of their serious bogey teams of recent years.
The Hammers have played better – against Chelsea, for example, and come away with nothing.
As the guardian.co.uk proclaims, this was a classic Espírito Santo rearguard:
“West Ham were dogged, defiant and unflinching in their refusal to give up on the point that lifted them out of the bottom three for the first time since November. They will believe, even though they will be back in the relegation zone if Forest pick up at least a point at home to Fulham on Sunday.”
It might just be temporary but that looks a whole lot better.
Even if the Hammers drop below Forest once more on Sunday, there is now clear belief that if they keep knocking on the door of the Premier League elevator enough times, the entry door will open and propel them upwards to safety.
Unlike Spurs, Forest and Leeds who must all now be casting anxious glances over their shoulder: This was not the demeanour of a side ready to depart the top league just yet.
“Nuno Espírito Santo has orchestrated quite the revival. This draw made it two defeats in nine league games for West Ham and, while they still have the toughest run-in out of anyone scrapping for survival, they will take immense encouragement from how they neutralised City’s attack with an exhibition of classic Nunoball.”
It might not have been pretty – it might have been painful, especially for man of the match Mavropanos who probably can’t remember taking one full in the face. But it did the job perfectly.
And it made many thousands proud of their team again.
I think I saw somewhere we would be near the top of the league if you just looked at the last couple of games 🤣🤡, however we don’t and we’re not.
Well said. We’re also a little more battle hardened having been in the bottom three for so long whereas Spurs have only just realised the poop has truly hit the wall.
I saw somewhere we would be 8th in the league based on the last 10 games and Spurs bottom with 2 or 3 points.
Just need to keep grinding out results for the next 8 games. I’ll take a point at Villa now but great to see the confidence returning.
I still think Pablo looks like a competition winner but you can’t knock his energy and would sooner have him in the side than some of the bad eggs we have at the start of the season.
Truly magnificent!