[ad_pod ]
West Ham fans are urging Manuel Pellegrini to do the unthinkable after Saturday’s match, hoping the boss will keep Fabian Balbuena out of the team even once the Paraguayan international is fully fit.
West Ham continued their impressive run of form in Saturday’s late kick-off, beating a red-hot Newcastle side 2-0 without any real difficulty at the London Stadium.
The Magpies travelled to east London with four wins from their last six league games, but Declan Rice opened the scoring with a thumping header from a Robert Snodgrass corner.
Pl>ymaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas reveals what Lasagne-Gate was really like for Tottenham’s food-poisoned stars – Check out the video below…
Mark Noble then doubled the lead from the spot after Florian Lejeune clumsily brought down Javier Hernandez, but it was the Hammers’ defensive duo that were the stars of the show.
Ogbonna, starting once again alongside Issa Diop in Balbuena’s absence, took loads of criticism earlier this season, but has consistently performed well since that horror show against Wolves.
He was dominant against the physical threat of Salomon Rondon, recording four tackles, three interceptions, three clearances, two blocks and also winning four aerial duels, per Whoscored.
Fans now want Pellegrini to keep Balbuena out of the team even once he is fully fit, something that would have been truly unthinkable just a few weeks ago, given how well Balbuena performed before his injury.
You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…
