Alphonse Areola felt West Ham United were fully deserving of our 3-1 victory over Newcastle United on Sunday, but acknowledged there is still plenty of hard work ahead for him and his teammates as they look to climb up the Premier League table.
The Irons put an end to a six-match winless streak in the top flight by defeating Eddie Howe’s side, which saw us register our first win at London Stadium since February, and first since the appointment of Head Coach Nuno Espírito Santo in September.
We had fallen behind to a thunderous Jacob Murphy shot on four minutes - against the run of play - and spent the next half-hour or so trying to find a way past a resolute visiting backline.
But Lucas Paquetá deservedly levelled on 35 minutes with a well-taken effort into the bottom-left corner from 25 yards, before Sven Botman’s own-goal in first-half stoppage time swung the scoreline in our favour.
Tomáš Souček wrapped up victory with a close-range finish to make it 3-1 in second-half added time, meaning the Claret and Blue faithful were able to punch the air and smile at the final whistle.
Victory in east London would not have been possible had Areola not produced another outstanding performance between the sticks.
Our No23 made several crucial saves, most notably to deny Anthony Gordon - which arrived soon before the Hammers equalised via Paquetá - and then to thwart Joelinton and keep our lead intact.
Following the full-time whistle, Areola spoke to whufc.com about the confidence victory can bring and the importance of trying to follow it up when Burnley travel to east London this weekend.
“It’s a good feeling, a good feeling for us, for the team, for the fans,” Areola stressed.
“What more can we ask for than just to win? And now we need to keep going like that.
“Even when they scored the goal, we felt that we were solid, especially in the second half, when they were more on top of us and we managed to keep the ball away [from the goal].
“It was good timing for me (the save from Anthony Gordon). We avoided that goal, and I think we were working all together to not concede again.
“We were talking about that (improvement in defending set-pieces) in the dressing room. We said that we felt comfortable and solid on set-pieces as well, so now we have to keep it up and keep on working on that.
“We have to use this win to try and do the same in the next one [against Burnley].”
And the France international praised the part the fans played in the victory, discussing how they helped the players find an extra gear on the pitch while explaining how the squad felt reconnected with the Claret and Blue Army.
He added: “We need big players to win games. I'm just happy for everyone and happy that we got that win against a good team in the league.
"We're here, and we'll fight until the end to reconnect with the fans. We felt it today as well.
“I've always said that we need them (the fans) to push us and to give us that strength to get far.
“They did their job, and I'm happy that we gave them that win.”
