Ten points claimed and no points conceded makes for a happy festive period for Angelo Ogbonna.
The centre-back captained West Ham United for a second successive match on Tuesday, leading the Irons to a hard-fought 0-0 draw at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.
The claimed point comes just a few days after an impressive 2-0 win over Arsenal and completes a run of games over the Christmas schedule that has seen the Hammers secure victory in three matches, score seven goals and not concede in 417 minutes of Premier League football.
For Ogbonna, it is a run of form that cannot be considered anything other than a success.
“I think we’d take the point against Brighton,” the Italian said. “It’s four clean-sheets in a row and the guys did very well in a huge game. Brighton, with their levels of possession, tried to do something important. But we stuck at it and I think we got an important point.
“As a defender, my job is to not concede goals. In that regard, against Brighton and throughout the last few games, we’ve done brilliantly. December can be a tough month and we wanted to get as many points as we can get, and I think we’ve done pretty well in the festive period. It’s been a difficult spell and we’re happy with the outcome.”
Ogbonna has started the last two Premier League games, taking his overall total matches for the campaign to ten so far.
The 35-year-old is only too happy to help the team as and when he is called upon.
“I’ve had to wait for my chance and I like to talk about the team, not myself. As long as I can come in and help the team, then I’ll try to do that and be happy with that.
“I hope I can bring my experience when needed and we were able to get a good result against Brighton.”
With the new year now upon us, Ogbonna is targeting even more success for West Ham United after an incredible 2023.
“For us, we want to do even better in 2024. Everything comes from performances and playing well. It’s important to be grounded and make things happen.
“We take things step by step. We’re obliviously missing a couple of players at the moment and it’s important to keep going with good performances. We’ll keep trying to do that.”
