Club captain Mark Noble praised his team’s belief and character after West Ham United produced a terrific second half performance to beat Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup at Wembley.
The Hammers went 2-0 down against their London rivals and looked beaten at half time, but came out all guns blazing in the second half and were soon level thanks to Andre Ayew’s brace.
And Angelo Ogbonna – bagging his second goal in as many starts – headed in a winner from Manuel Lanzini’s corner with 20 minutes remaining to book West Ham’s place in the quarter-finals of the competition.
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“I said to the boys you have always got to believe,” he said after the victory. “You can’t give up. We are Premier League footballers; you can’t just give up.
“In all honesty, no [I don’t believe it!] But do I believe in the team? Yes! Do I believe in the players? Yes, but 2-0 down at Wembley to a fantastic Spurs team, not only for us, but for any team, is a massive mountain to climb.
“Obviously Spurs scored two goals, they can do that, but in the second half, we showed a lot of character.
“I thought we deserved it. They deserved it in the first half and scored two, we did in the second half but scored three – that’s why we won the game.
“I don’t think you get that second half performance if you aren’t playing for your manager. Slaven is a proud man – it kills him when we lose, you see it in his interviews.
You don't get that second half performance if you aren't playing for your manager. I said to the boys you have always got to believe
Mark Noble
“It was a fantastic night for everyone at West Ham. The fans loved it, the players loved it.”
The Hammers went into the cup tie on the back of a disappointing defeat against Brighton and Hove Albion on Friday and have another huge Premier League clash in south east London on Saturday, against Crystal Palace.
And Noble hopes the Wembley win against Mauricio Pochettino’s men can now act as a catalyst to reignite their form in the league.
“I hope it is [a defining moment] for us,” he continued. "We have got an really talented squad here thanks to some excellent work over the summer away from the pitch and we now need to start making that show in our results and performances.
"We had Chicharito, Marko Arnautovic, Joe Hart and Arthur Masuaku sitting on our bench tonight which just shows how strong our squad is at the moment.
“But we have to take this now into the next game – it’s about belief and confidence. You build momentum and that’s what you need. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how you win, you just need to win.
“We know we haven't been doing ourselves justice. I know the players we have got in that team and we are accountable for the performances we put in. I said that we needed to have pride in their shirt and tonight, in the second half, we did that.”
The midfielder also had huge praise for forward Ayew, whose two goals dragged the Hammers level after a disappointing first half.
“We had a fantastic ball in from the corner [for Ogbonna’s goal], but the others, we’ve seen this from ‘Dre before.
“He knows where the ball is going to drop. They were two fantastic goals from him.
“He has had a bit of stick, this player, but he’s kept on grinding and he deserves that tonight.”