Thilo Kehrer believes the entire West Ham United side can take pride and confidence from the manner of Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal.
The Irons had a mountain to climb after the Gunner stormed into a two-goal advantage inside ten minutes. Gabriel Jesus and Martin Ødegaard both netted to put the Premier League leaders in full control at London Stadium.
However, amid the vocal backing of the Claret and Blue army in the 62,475 attendance, the home side fought back to take a deserved share of the points. Saïd Benrahama netted from the penalty spot before Jarrod Bowen levelled the game in the second half, volleying in from Kehrer’s fine lofted pass.
“It is difficult to describe what happened in the first ten minutes,” the German international said. “We need to analyse it to see exactly what we can do better, but there are things that we can do better for sure. We conceded two goals from their first two chances and we know that we can do better there. But we reacted very well and we fought ourselves back into the game.
“You prepare yourself for the game and you do a lot of preparation. It’s so important for everybody in the team to get a good start but it didn’t go how we planned. We have to look at what went wrong and where we can do things better.
“But, for sure, we can take positives out of the game. From 20 minutes onwards, we were outstanding. The whole team were there and the fans were there. The energy was great and we had chances. We defended well and we won most of our duels. That is the key for us. We are happy with about 70 minutes of the game and the result.”
Having been so behind so early on, it would not have been unreasonable for West Ham to end the 90 minutes with all three points. Michail Antonio hit the post with a header late on while Bowen’s fizzed ball across the face of goal was missed.
Kehrer admitted the opportunities had been there for the hosts to grab a valuable three points but feels a share of the spoils cannot be considered a bad effort, given the start to the game and Arsenal’s missed penalty.
“I think we could have taken three points but you have to see the whole game. You have to see that Arsenal could have extended their lead as well. If they scored their penalty then they would have been 3-1 up, so we got a little bit lucky there.
“But we were dominating in the second half and we had more chances than them. We are happy with the result and the point, but we know we could have won. But we have to stay humble, analyse it, take this result and go forward.
“I’m happy to help the team with the assist but I think the more important thing for us is, no matter what, keep in the game. That counts for all of us in the team and now, for the rest of the season, we need to stick together and fight for each other. That’s the way to go.”
The Claret and Blue Army was in full voice and showed a deserved appreciation for the home side at the final whistle.
Kehrer was full of praise for the fantastic support shown by the fans during Sunday’s fixture.
He added: “My personal man of the match is the fans, the team and everybody involved in this game. It was because of the collective effort that we got this result and gave this performance. It would be hard to select just one person but everybody played their role.
“The fans were terrific and the attitude of the team, and the leadership from the players as well as the energy we showed, got us over the line.”
