Felipe Anderson was full of praise for his West Ham United teammates after his own match-winning performance in Thursday’s 2-1 Premier League win at Southampton.
The Brazilian continued his scintillating form with both goals at St Mary’s Stadium, making it seven in his last nine top-flight appearances and eight in total, as the Hammers rose to ninth in the table at the halfway stage of the season.
However, rather than focus on his own eye-catching display, the No8 was eager to focus on the contribution of his colleagues to a fifth win in the last six Premier League matches.
We managed to connect better in midfield, to keep our cool and that allowed us to be more incisive and to create more chances that way
Felipe Anderson
“We’re starting to understand that sometimes we need to change positions, to play a bit differently and that has helped us to react more quickly on the pitch, to understand each other better,” he explained. “We managed to connect better in midfield, to keep our cool and that allowed us to be more incisive and to create more chances that way.”
One player who particularly impressed Felipe Anderson was goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, whose heroics between the sticks paved the way for West Ham’s come-from-behind victory.
“I speak constantly to him and he gives me trust,” he revealed. “Even when we don’t believe in ourselves he’s there, encouraging us and making us play better every time. He has been amazing for us."
Focusing on his two goals, the winger was pleased with their timing as much as their execution, coming as they did both within nine minutes of Nathan Redmond’s opener for the Saints.
For the equaliser, Felipe Anderson rifled home from 25 yards, before securing victory for his team by converting at the end of a lightning-quick counter attack led by Michail Antonio.
“[For my first goal] Aaron Cresswell passed me the ball and I didn’t have so much time to control it so I decided to shoot and fortunately it was a great shot and also very important because we had just gone behind and managed to equalise quickly.
“The second goal was a great move in which Antonio, with all that power that he has, set me up perfectly and with that goal we managed to close out a victory that was extremely important for us
“Besides the goals, this is a great moment for me because I have my family that gives me support and that has been essential for what’s happening right now and gives me confidence for what’s next.”
West Ham now look to close out 2018 with a sixth victory of an already historic month in which they have collected a club-record 15 points, when they head to Burnley on Sunday afternoon.
Another success at Turf Moor could see Manuel Pellegrini’s side finish the year as high as seventh – and that having started the campaign with four straight defeats.
And Felipe Anderson concluded: “We lost a lot of points at the beginning of the season so right now we want to win as much as possible to keep on climbing in the table and that’s exactly the spirit we will keep on carrying on for next match against Burnley.”