West Ham United beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 in their most recent match.
Cheikhou Kouyate has told West Ham United’s official website that Slaven Bilic told his side that their match against Tottenham Hotspur should be treated like a cup final.
West Ham took on Tottenham on Friday evening, with the pressure on Bilic to pick up a positive result.
The Croatian boss had been put under pressure, after reports in the media suggested that his job was being put under scrutiny by the board.
West Ham have suffered a disappointing campaign, after moving to the London Stadium.
But they rose to the challenge, by beating Tottenham 1-0 and effectively ending their rival’s title chase.
Manuel Lanzini scored the only goal of the game from close range, and Kouyate said that the victory sent a message to West Ham’s board that the whole team is still behind Bilic.
“Despite all the speculation, Slaven was very confident before the game,” Kouyate said.
“We were right behind him the entire way. He said before the match that this was like a final for us and so we are very happy that we’ve won it for him.”
West Ham’s win over Spurs has lifted them into 12th place in the Premier League table.
The Hammers are next in action at the weekend, when they take on Liverpool.
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