‘A huge step in the right direction’ was Łukasz Fabiański's assessment of West Ham United’s 1-0 win over Manchester United on Sunday evening.
Saïd Benrahma’s first-half strike secured a vital three points and a memorable night at London Stadium as the visiting Red Devils were swept aside by an aggressive West Ham side who looked back to their battling best.
Everyone in Claret and Blue played their part to move the Hammers seven points clear of the bottom three, although the No1 praised the defensive performance of his side - including inspired stops from himself to deny both Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial - as West Ham recorded an eighth clean sheet of the Premier League season.
"If you look at the way Thilo Kehrer and the way Angelo Ogbonna performed today and the way everyone performed defensively I think we have to be really proud of the team's performance,” Fabiański stated.
“Obviously, we knew they would create chances because they are a very good team. They are good at creating opportunities and they had a lot of shots from the edge of the box.
“You always have to approach the games in a positive way. And we have a really good squad of players. Every player is ready to step in when needed and we did that today.
“They still had some chances but as a team, we worked really hard and delivered the game plan for the manager.”
Victory has huge significance for Fabiański and company as the Hammers opened up space between themselves and the sides occupying the bottom three.
A three-game winless run – against Liverpool, Crystal Palace and Manchester City – had seen the Hammers looking anxiously over their shoulders but this sort of performance has certainly moved the Club in the right direction.
Fabiański sees it as just that but the No1 is clear West Ham still have work to do to ensure their place in the top flight come 2023/24.
“Until we are really safe, then we will think a lot less [about it],” the No1 admitted. “But the win over Manchester United was a huge step in terms of staying in the Premier League.
“Mathematically we are still not there. And we still have three games to go. We want to make sure that next week we get a result and ensure that we are safe.”
