West Ham United guaranteed that they would be staying in the Premier League with a stunning victory.
If West Ham’s supporters were told before their clash with Leicester that they would see one of their players smash home a stunning volley from outside the box, and asked to guess who would bag that kind of goal, it seems likely that the likes of Marko Arnautovic and Manuel Lanzini would be the kind of names that would get mentioned.
Surely much lower down that list of predictions would be Mark Noble, who has scored more than 50 goals for the Irons, but with the majority of those strikes coming from the penalty spot.
But Mr West Ham was able to ensure that David Moyes’ side did guarantee that they will be playing in the top flight once again next year as he scored a screamer that wrapped up the points during their away clash with the Foxes on Saturday.
Judging by the looks on Marko Arnautovic and Cheikhou Kouyate’s faces in the image below, they were certainly not expecting Noble to hit a strike so sweet to ensure that the points, and Premier League survival, would be secured.
But it is not just Arnautovic’s and Kouyate’s reactions in the image that are interesting. Declan Rice has had no problem building a rapport with the Hammers fans with a string of fine displays since emerging into the first-team, and he showed how much the goal meant to him by clearly thumping the badge.
Mr West Ham may have come good when the team needed him, but perhaps the image also highlights that his successor may also be ready to take the mantle at some stage in the future…
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