It took them more than 120 minutes but West Ham United booked their place in the FA Cup quarter finals, beating fellow Premier League side Brentford on penalties. The Hammers hoped to have things wrapped up quicker but the Bee’s held on, forcing West Ham to go the distance before the Iron’s dispatched five perfect penalties.
Nuno Espirito Santo made seven changes to the team, with most assuming he was resting players with a focus on the league. Instead the side came out firing, adamant they were going to keep their momentum going despite the changes.
After the game, Nuno spoke to the club’s official website, highlighting that this West Ham team deserved to get through:
“It was amazing! I’m so happy. I think, honestly, London Stadium has been huge for us. You can see the atmosphere, you can see the support of the fans, so they deserve this moment of happiness.
“I think the boys worked really hard for it, and we deserve to go through. We play with such purpose. In normal time and in extra time, we’ve been a team pushing. I believe we started the game well. We had some issues on defence, but second half, again, we started well, we were in front.
“We had chances to put the game to bed, something that we have to do, but overall, we were consistent, dominant, and then when it comes to penalties, it’s a moment of being spot on with what we’ve been training, and the boys did amazing.”
West Ham’s team spirit
Given the changes, it was easy to think that West Ham would have issues replicating their recent form. For Nuno, there was no such worry, with the Hammers boss knowing just how tight knit the group is:
“Let’s analyse ourselves, the boys, the changes that we made, they made a good answer. They worked so hard during the week, but then comes the weekend, we cannot reward them with the game, but they are sticking to their tasks.
“Today, the boys that came in gave a big help, so we are delighted to go through, because going through in the FA Cup will help us keeping alive all the players, knowing that they are important. They know they are important, the proof was today.
“So, let’s recover well, but very positive in terms of character inside of the group, the togetherness, the help they are giving to each other. Every moment there’s a guy there to support, so that’s the team spirit that we need.”
The importance of the supporters
With better performances has come continued support. A number of the players came out in praise of the fans after the team’s win at Fulham, as did Nuno. The West Ham boss was quick to praise them again, sating they constantly help the team over the line:
“The atmosphere has been amazing, it’s been amazing. We have to be really thankful because through difficult moments, they were there, they were there.
“And now we said that when the moment that we are able to give, that they will give 1,000 times more, and today was amazing. We cannot thank them enough.
“Let’s go again on Saturday, because we’re going to need them.”
