Two-goal captain Mark Noble understandably enjoyed West Ham United's 3-0 Barclays Premier League win at West Bromwich Albion
Mark Noble was at the double again as West Ham United set a Barclays Premier League single-season points record with a 3-0 win at West Bromwich Albion.
Slaven Bilic’s side made it ten top-flight games unbeaten to go above Manchester United into fifth place on 59 points – two more than Harry Redknapp’s squad achieved in finishing fifth in 1998/99.
On Saturday, the Hammers recovered from a slow start – during which they were indebted to Adrian for two fine saves from Craig Gardner – to go ahead when Cheikhou Kouyate expertly headed in Dimitri Payet’s cross after Winston Reid had won back possession with a thunderous tackle.
The skipper then scored twice, prodding in West Ham’s second on the stroke of half-time before completing the victory with a thumping volley from Andy Carroll’s left-wing cross eleven minutes from the end.
“We didn’t start well, to be honest, and West Brom had a few chances, but then we got into our rhythm and Cheik scored a great goal with a header and I managed to get one just before half-time and that settled the nerves a little bit,” said the No16. “We managed to get a clean sheet and another three points, which is nice!
“I’m obviously just enjoying my football at the minute. I got two penalties last week and two more today, which is always nice from open play as I don’t get many from open play! I’m just enjoying it.
“There’s three games left and we don’t want the season to finish, to be honest.”
Slaven Bilic’s side made it ten top-flight games unbeaten to go above Manchester United into fifth place on 59 points – two more than Harry Redknapp’s squad achieved in finishing fifth in 1998/99.
On Saturday, the Hammers recovered from a slow start – during which they were indebted to Adrian for two fine saves from Craig Gardner – to go ahead when Cheikhou Kouyate expertly headed in Dimitri Payet’s cross after Winston Reid had won back possession with a thunderous tackle.
The skipper then scored twice, prodding in West Ham’s second on the stroke of half-time before completing the victory with a thumping volley from Andy Carroll’s left-wing cross eleven minutes from the end.
“We didn’t start well, to be honest, and West Brom had a few chances, but then we got into our rhythm and Cheik scored a great goal with a header and I managed to get one just before half-time and that settled the nerves a little bit,” said the No16. “We managed to get a clean sheet and another three points, which is nice!
“I’m obviously just enjoying my football at the minute. I got two penalties last week and two more today, which is always nice from open play as I don’t get many from open play! I’m just enjoying it.
“There’s three games left and we don’t want the season to finish, to be honest.”
There’s three games left and we don’t want the season to finish, to be honest
Having started the 2015/16 season campaign with the singular aim of avoiding a relegation battle in the final campaign at the Boleyn Ground, the captain now doesn’t want it to end!
Having lost just six of their 35 Premier League matches, West Ham will also smash the previous record low of 13 defeats set in 1998/99 and 1999/00.
“We’ve put ourselves under pressure now for next season!” Noble, who now has a career-best seven Premier League goals to his name this term, smiled. “We’ve used the whole squad when we’ve needed to and we’ve just gelled this year.
“Especially in the second half, that was a really encouraging performance from us. That’s back-to-back wins and another two home games to come.
“I think we feel confident every time we play. We’ve got good players. Obviously Dimi, for our third goal, made an incredible run and laid Andy in and he put in a great ball to the back stick and I managed to get the third. That’s the sort of players we’ve got at the minute and times are looking up for us.”
So, with three games to go, starting with home matches with Swansea City and Manchester United and ending with a trip to mid-table Stoke City, can the Hammers somehow end a fairytale campaign by gate-crashing the top four?
“We’re just going to keep trying to win games,” he concluded. “We’ve got Swansea next weekend and then the farewell Boleyn game against Manchester United and then a trip to Stoke.
“The way we’re playing at the minute, we feel confident against anyone. Don’t get me wrong, this West Brom team were great against Tottenham in the week and we had to work hard for our win.”
Having lost just six of their 35 Premier League matches, West Ham will also smash the previous record low of 13 defeats set in 1998/99 and 1999/00.
“We’ve put ourselves under pressure now for next season!” Noble, who now has a career-best seven Premier League goals to his name this term, smiled. “We’ve used the whole squad when we’ve needed to and we’ve just gelled this year.
“Especially in the second half, that was a really encouraging performance from us. That’s back-to-back wins and another two home games to come.
“I think we feel confident every time we play. We’ve got good players. Obviously Dimi, for our third goal, made an incredible run and laid Andy in and he put in a great ball to the back stick and I managed to get the third. That’s the sort of players we’ve got at the minute and times are looking up for us.”
So, with three games to go, starting with home matches with Swansea City and Manchester United and ending with a trip to mid-table Stoke City, can the Hammers somehow end a fairytale campaign by gate-crashing the top four?
“We’re just going to keep trying to win games,” he concluded. “We’ve got Swansea next weekend and then the farewell Boleyn game against Manchester United and then a trip to Stoke.
“The way we’re playing at the minute, we feel confident against anyone. Don’t get me wrong, this West Brom team were great against Tottenham in the week and we had to work hard for our win.”