In a match where small margins decided West Ham United’s 1-0 win over Fulham, it was Łukasz Fabiański who got his side over the line.
The Hammers led after Jarrod Bowen forced Harrison Reed to find his own net midway through the first half, although that slender advantage was tested when Andreas Pereira was left running towards the goal with less than five minutes to play.
Fabiański, though, was quick off his line to keep his second clean sheet of the week, scooping the ball away from the Brazil midfielder to ensure the Irons left Craven Cottage with all three points.
It was not the prettiest game of football but in a match where all that mattered was the result, West Ham got the job done.
“The win brings us closer [to safety],” Fabiański said. “We didn’t get so many points this season away from home so far, so it is very important to get as many as you can.
“We played against a really good team today who are having a really good season, so it’s a big boost for us and hopefully with the remaining games we will be able to finish in a strong way.
“Obviously we’re very happy and very glad about three points that put us in a better position in the table I believe. Hopefully, we will be able to finish off the season in a strong way, we’re very happy and it’s a very important three points.”
At Craven Cottage, the former Poland stopper impressed as the Irons recorded a 2022/23 league double over Fulham, making three saves and one claim in the west London sun.
And after a disappointing result against Newcastle United in midweek, Fabiański knew the importance of bouncing back. He was delighted the Hammers did just that. And equally pleased with his own showing.
"We’re very happy,” he stated. “It was only about responding from what happened on Wednesday evening against Newcastle.
“It was a bit of a freak of a game for us and we wanted to bounce back and show we are much better than we showed on Wednesday. It’s nice to be back quickly out there on the pitch and prove what happened on Wednesday night was more of an accident than what represents us.
“I must admit it was very challenging for me personally because obviously, I did not have a good game against Newcastle. It was challenging but at the same time, I believe it was good that this game came so quickly in the space of three days.”
Ahead of Fabiański, David Moyes made three changes to his back-four, Aaron Cresswell, Vladimír Coufal and Angelo Ogbonna replacing Nayef Aguerd, Emerson and Thilo Kehrer, with the Hammers squad depth helping to navigate the task of three games in six days.
The 37-year-old stated: “With the squad we have, the manager would always want to do those changes and make sure we don’t play tired.
“We as a group knew something would change and the manager decided to make changes, but like I said the squad is big, the squad is strong, and everybody does their best to help the team and that’s what we did today.”
