Łukasz Fabiański dedicated West Ham United’s 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion to the brave Oscar Fairs.
Prior to kick-off, London Stadium paid tribute to late Academy U15s goalkeeper Fairs, who has sadly passed away following his brave battle with cancer, with his family, teammates, coaches and 62,500 fans applauding in his memory.
After a largely uneventful first half, the game sparked into life in the second period as the contest delivered its first goal six minutes after the restart when Lewis Dunk challenged Fabiański to Pervis Estupiñán's cross, and the loose ball was coolly side-footed into the bottom corner by Mats Wieffer, which was duly verified by VAR.
But just seven minutes later, Mohammed Kudus—as so often—made the all-important difference, reacting quickest to head the ball into the empty net after Jarrod Bowen’s powerful left-foot shot was parried by Bart Verbruggen.
Though our Polish stopper took responsibility for his mistake and acknowledged that he should’ve done better for Wieffer’s opener, Fabiański hailed his teammates' character as they came from a goal down to earn a share of the spoils.
“I think that's actually something positive [fighting spirit] because we're showing the attitude that we’ve maybe lacked in some games since the start of the season," confirmed Fabiański. “I believe we're showing improvement when we find ourselves in difficult circumstances.
“We actually managed to get back in the game and went toe-to-toe with the opponent, and the last few minutes became very, very open, and it was almost like a basketball game. I think it just shows the spirit that we have within the team, the belief that we have, and we tried really hard to go for it [the win]. There are some different aspects of the game that we still need to improve, but that's something that is going in the right way.
“I think that's the reaction you always want to have [when falling behind], and I should have done better in that situation, but today the team helped me with the response. We managed to get back in the game, so I'm thankful for that, that's for sure.
“That's the life of a goalkeeper. That's a very exciting kind of thing about this position, and I understand that it's a very responsible position on the pitch. I always like to take responsibility for all of my actions, and obviously, I'm disappointed with the goal today, but in the end, you just have to get on with it and focus on the rest of the game.
Oscar’s passing has been felt deeply across the Club, with tributes being paid by his teammates, coaches, supporters, senior players and from across the football world.
Fabiański, who is a father, admits he was emotional as London Stadium rose as one in support of Oscar, his family—parents Natalie and Russell and brother Harry—and U15s teammates and coaches in a moving pre-match ceremony that saw wreaths laid on the centre spot and a moving minute’s applause.
“Almost all the boys had a chance to meet him. He was a warrior, a true warrior until the very end,” said Fabiański.
“He was so positive. It's a very, very sad, sad thing, but I really loved the way we honoured him today, paying respect to him and not only us, the team, but the whole football Club. It was very emotional.
“I would love to dedicate today's game to him and to his family. Obviously, it would have been better if we had won it. We actually spoke about it at the start of the game, and I think the spirit that we've shown today, going one goal down, he [Oscar] would have enjoyed us showing the spirit.
“That was a bit of a reflection of his personality, because he was such a true warrior until the very end.”
