Vladimir Coufal admitted he was “afraid” West Ham were heading for another Newcastle-style hammering before their sensational comeback to earn a point against Premier League leaders Arsenal on Sunday.
David Moyes’s side conceded twice inside the opening quarter of an hour at the London Stadium, just as they had in their 5-1 loss to the Magpies earlier this month, but on this occasion goals from Said Benrahma and Jarrod Bowen salvaged a deserved draw - one that extended the Hammers’ cushion above the relegation zone to four points.
“To be honest, I was afraid of this - it was like the momentum from Newcastle,” Coufal said. “We were 2-0 down against one of the best teams in the world.
“But [we had] nothing to lose and there was one situation where we pressed them and suddenly the crowd pushed us. We turned the game, we scored and we were pushing, pushing, pushing.
“Suddenly, we were 2-2. From this situation we found it is possible to play against them. It is possible to press them, it is possible to hurt them.”
Mikel Arteta’s side had also surrendered a two-goal lead at Anfield last weekend, and while Coufal insisted that turnaround had not been on West Ham minds after pulling one back before the interval, he highlighted Bukayo Saka’s penalty miss early in the second half as the key turning point.
“For us, it was a big advantage because the crowd was unreal after missing the penalty and for us it was like another life in the game,” Coufal added. “To be honest, if he scored it would probably be finished.
“You have to ask them why they dropped the points at Liverpool and here. We tried to play our game, we had our tactics and of course the crowd helped us very well because we need that support from 60,000 people. When you feel it on the pitch, they can push you much harder, to your limits.”
West Ham were without centre-backs Angelo Ogbonna and Nayef Aguerd for the London derby, with both players late absentees after picking up knocks in the Europa Conference League draw at Gent on Thursday.
That left Moyes with Kurt Zouma and Thilo Kehrer as his only fit centre-backs, but the Scot eased concerns of a defensive injury crisis heading into the run-in, with both Aguerd and Ogbonna’s issues considered to be minor.
“It was last minute,” Moyes said. “[Aguerd] took a kick and his boot came off in the incident in Belgium and it was a boy who had ran down the back of his ankle. Angelo had the fall [against Gent], he felt okay but he’s stiffened up with his back.
“We thought one of them might make it but they haven’t. They’re both carrying knocks but we don’t think they’re serious.”
