Łukasz Fabiański hailed West Ham United’s mentality, positivity and performance in claiming a 2-2 draw away to Leeds United.
The Irons had to battle hard and find spirit from deep within to secure a first point of 2023 and, in the process, put an end to a five-game losing run in the Premier League.
A first goal in Claret and Blue from Lucas Paquetá from the penalty spot levelled up Wednesday’s match, after Wilfried Gnonto’s opener, before Gianluca Scamacca’s fine finish early in the second half put the Hammers 2-1 up.
While Rodrigo added a second for Leeds and ensured a share of the points for the home side, goalkeeper Fabiański took heart from the team’s performance, especially after his own late save to deny the Spain striker played a big part in ending that losing sequence.
“I hope this is an important point,” the 37-year-old told West Ham TV. “We’ve been on a really, really bad run, and we lost so many games in a row. I think the confidence was really low and, first of all, we wanted to get a result and put in a brave performance. I think we did that against Leeds.
“This is a very tough place to come and it’s always hard to play against Leeds. They’re always full of energy and always press really hard. We just wanted to stand up to them and do our best to get a result. When you’re in this position and not winning games, the confidence is not the highest. We were desperate to get something from the game and we managed to do it.
“We are very demanding of ourselves but, when you’re in this position, to build the confidence back then you need to do it step-by-step. Especially if you’re on a bad run. I believe against Brentford, even though we lost, I believed we’ve improved.
“This was a different type of game. It was a lot more physical and more emotional even. And I think we stood up to the challenge. We responded in a good way in a bad moment and hopefully this point is a good kick for our confidence in the coming games.”
Fabiański was called into action on multiple occasions at Elland Road, denying Gnonto and Rodrigo their respective second goals in either half.
It was the Pole’s final save that was perhaps his most spectacular, denying Rodrigo in the dying moments of a frantic final scramble, ensuring West Ham returned to east London with a hard-fought share of the spoils.
For the No1, it was a big moment personally, too, after a difficult run for the veteran goalkeeper.
“I’m not running away from taking responsibility,” he continued. “I believe I am a big part of this team and I’ve made some mistakes in recent games. But I’m very demanding of myself and I’m never really satisfied fully with my performances.
“I always want to do my best for the team. Today, at the end, there was a situation where the team needed me and I was able to respond to that. Those little moments are always important. Not just for me personally but for this group, because they’re working really hard every single day and we want to turn things around.”
Sad news of Joint-Chairman David Gold’s passing broke on Wednesday afternoon after a short illness.
Fabiański paid tribute to the lifelong West Ham United supporter, who achieved his ambition of owning the Club, and reminisced about time spent with the Joint-Chairman.
He said: “David Gold will be a massive loss for the Club. I met him a few times and he was a gentleman, a big fan and a great person to be around. He was very talkative and very positive.
“He will be a massive loss and our condolences are with his family and close friends. Hopefully, at our next home game, we’ll be able to pay our respects properly. I believe we as players, and as a Club, will do something special for him.”
