West Ham United’s campaign for Premier League survival took a big boost as they beat Fulham 1-0 on Wednesday night. The victory at Craven Cottage took the Hammers level with Nottingham Forest in 17th, leaving safety as close as it has been all season.
Built on an ever-formidable defensive front, Nuno Espirito Santo’s team are becoming harder to beat. Crysencio Summerville got the all important goal for the West Ham as the group as whole gains more confidence in their fight to stay in this division.
Goalkeeper Mads Hermansen, who has been a massive part of the defensive revolution at West Ham told the club’s official website that things are different in the group now, and they are more together than ever:
“I’m very happy. Of course, a win and a clean sheet, so nothing more we can ask for,”
“We defended well. I think in the dying moments we still need to be better at getting out with the ball, especially when we’re defending leads. But of course, if we can’t, we need to be strong and we need to be compact and together, and we were defensively pretty good.
“I think there is a feeling of togetherness compared to the beginning of the season, and we’ve become a better group this way. We’ve really moved together as a group. In Danish we say, ‘Vi rykkede tættere på hinanden I bussen’, which means ‘We moved closer in the bus’!
“I think I had two saves, one with my foot in the first half at a bit of an angle [from Josh King], but I closed it down well, and then the last one was a good reaction save down to my left, so it was nice.
“I work hard for moments like this and to be able to contribute to games and, hopefully, in the long run, I can continue to also do my part in these clean sheets.”
The importance of backing
Like many of his teammates, Hermansen has pinpointed the supporters of helping the team turn a corner. The last ten minutes at Craven Cottage made for a nervy affair, but the supporters noise consistently helped West Ham over the line and the shot stopper was another to praise them:
“I think they’re really carrying us forward at the moment, of course, together with better performances and better results, we also get even more connection with the fans, and they’ve been brilliant the last few months.
“It’s been great, and I think we all believe that it’s possible, especially after the final whistle, we could all feel it. It was an amazing moment. There are nine games left, so that’s 27 points still to play for. If we can continue on our good run, we can go forward.
“On the other hand, we cannot relax just because we’re level [with Nottingham Forest] now. We need to stay sharp, because getting back to here has not been easy.
“It has not been light work. We’ve been really training hard every single day to get here. None of us thinks that it’s done now, and we have to keep going and have to keep working hard.”
Goalkeeper’s union
Even though West Ham got the win, Hermansen did admit some sympathy for his opposition keeper, Bernd Leno. The Fulham shot stopper was caught in possession by Jarrod Bowen, who set up Summerville for the winning goal, leaving Leno in no-man’s land.
“I think they have to discuss internally what happened between them. But I think he (Leno) actually made some great saves in the first seconds of the first half, also at our first corner in the second, and again in the second half down to his left.
“I think overall he also played a good game, but that’s how it is. Being a keeper, you can be very good for many moments, but sometimes it’s decisive. I was happy to see it (the goal) from my end!”
