Mark Noble says the Hammers were rewarded for their patience against Aston Villa on Tuesday
Mark Noble said West Ham United’s patience was key after they picked up another three points against Aston Villa on Tuesday.
The Hammers played against ten men for 73 minutes following a red card to Jordan Ayew, but had to wait until the 58th minute for their breakthrough.
Michail Antonio was the man to open the scoring – from a Noble pass – before Cheikhou Kouyate wrapped it up late on.
Noble said: “We could feel the crowd’s frustration and we were frustrated as well. We work on it in training – trying to break ten men down – because it’s really hard.
“They get behind the ball and there’s no space to play in behind and get the crowd up. We struggled a bit in the first half, even though we had three or four chances that go in on another day, but I thought we were fantastic in the second half and showed what a good team we are.
The Hammers played against ten men for 73 minutes following a red card to Jordan Ayew, but had to wait until the 58th minute for their breakthrough.
Michail Antonio was the man to open the scoring – from a Noble pass – before Cheikhou Kouyate wrapped it up late on.
Noble said: “We could feel the crowd’s frustration and we were frustrated as well. We work on it in training – trying to break ten men down – because it’s really hard.
“They get behind the ball and there’s no space to play in behind and get the crowd up. We struggled a bit in the first half, even though we had three or four chances that go in on another day, but I thought we were fantastic in the second half and showed what a good team we are.
“You need to keep the ball and keep it moving because in the end they will get tired playing against eleven. That’s what happened in the second half and we won it comfortably in the end.”
Antonio’s goal was his third in his last eight games and Noble is delighted with the impact the winger has made.
He continued: “We know we can do that. I picked the ball up and saw Michail pointing to the space. To be fair the way he’s playing at the moment if you put it in the right place he’s got every chance of scoring.
“From that position it’s some header.”
West Ham are now eleven games unbeaten at home and Noble is keen to keep that formidable record going.
He added: “We’re making this a tough place to come and play. The crowd are behind us, and especially in games like this, when we’re a bit frustrated, we need them to stick behind us because it showed in the second half what we can do.
“This is the best team I’ve been involved in and we’ve still got games to play and points to pick up. To be fair I’m looking forward to every game."
Antonio’s goal was his third in his last eight games and Noble is delighted with the impact the winger has made.
He continued: “We know we can do that. I picked the ball up and saw Michail pointing to the space. To be fair the way he’s playing at the moment if you put it in the right place he’s got every chance of scoring.
“From that position it’s some header.”
West Ham are now eleven games unbeaten at home and Noble is keen to keep that formidable record going.
He added: “We’re making this a tough place to come and play. The crowd are behind us, and especially in games like this, when we’re a bit frustrated, we need them to stick behind us because it showed in the second half what we can do.
“This is the best team I’ve been involved in and we’ve still got games to play and points to pick up. To be fair I’m looking forward to every game."