Declan Rice was thrilled to make a 'special' 200th appearance for West Ham United in our 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur at London Stadium.
Rice once again skippered the side as he reached the milestone, with a second-half strike from Tomáš Souček cancelling out an earlier own goal from Thilo Kehrer.
The Hammers No41 almost struck at London Stadium but saw Hugo Lloris palm his well-struck effort from distance away, as West Ham had to settle for a point despite late chances for Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paquetá.
Rice made his West Ham United debut in a 2-1 Premier League win at Burnley in May 2017 and became the fourth current Hammer to reach the landmark alongside Aaron Cresswell, Michail Antonio, Angelo Ogbonna, and Manuel Lanzini.
“It goes so quick,” said Rice. “I was speaking to my dad the other day – I remember coming on at Burnley. To make 200 for this Club, I never thought I would be able to do it.
“It is a real honour. Let’s keep pushing on to the next milestone.”
Rice was pleased with the Hammers performance on Wednesday night, particularly the resilience they showed to battle back to earn a point, having fallen behind.
“Other than the goal we gave away on the counter attack,“ Rice added. “I thought we were the better team on the night.
“We kept the ball really well at times – much improved from the start of the season. We looked a threat.
“Against a top side like Spurs, you have to sit in, but when we have the ball – you see at the end, it’s a game of margins. We have seen tonight there was a different energy. To be 1-0 down and then come back and almost go on to win the game was a positive performance.”
Shortly after the hour, Lucas Paquetá made his debut in Claret and Blue, and almost snatched a late winner. As one of eight summer signings, Rice reiterated the need for patience, although he was pleased with the efforts of the new arrivals already this season.
“It is not going to click straight away,” he said. “But I think you are now starting to see us gel more together. We are looking like ourselves, like last season. I am sure it’s going to be another positive year; we just need to keep working hard and keep doing what we do best.”