West Ham keeper Lukasz Fabianski ‘conscious and talking’ after nasty collision
Fabianski left the field on a stretcher in the 36th minute after he was caught late by Saints defender Nathan Wood.
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Your support makes all the difference.Julen Lopetegui revealed West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was conscious and talking after being forced off in the first half of a 1-0 win at Southampton following a nasty collision.
Fabianski was caught late by Saints defender Nathan Wood after he punched away a corner in the 29th minute and required seven minutes of medical attention before he was taken off on a stretcher.
While the veteran stopper had an oxygen mask on as he left the pitch, Lopetegui confirmed he did not need to go hospital and remained at St Mary’s for the second half where Jarrod Bowen’s goal after 59 minutes settled a drab Boxing Day contest.
“He had one big knock around the head, around the neck and he was not very sure about his actions. Fortunately the news is he is talking, he is alert, he is conscious,” Lopetegui said.
“I talk with him. The doctors say that he feels better and well. I am positive with him.
“He showed he more or less recovered his sense. I am not afraid. We feared but now he is better and it is a positive feeling because we were very worried.”
West Ham had started well, with Carlos Soler firing against the crossbar after four minutes, but the hosts responded positively in new boss Ivan Juric’s first match in charge.
Paul Onuachu – on only his second start of the campaign – was a constant menace up front for Saints and yet failed to score with a number of first-half chances.
Fabianski denied Onuachu with a superb save after 25 minutes before he was replaced by Alphonse Areola nine minutes later.
Areola thwarted Onuachu in first-half stoppage time before West Ham thought they had been reduced to 10 men in the 51st minute when Guido Rodriguez was shown a red card for a late tackle on Kyle Walker-Peters.
VAR told referee Lewis Smith to review the incident on the pitchside monitor and he downgraded his decision to a yellow card before Bowen settled the contest when he poked home after Niclas Fullkrug had flicked on Tomas Soucek’s header across the Southampton penalty area.
Lopetegui added: “I have to see always the match to analyse better, but my first point of view is we were resilient and able to suffer as a team to achieve three important points in one contest with a lot of problems.”
New Saints boss Juric was pleased with the efforts of his players but frustrated with the manner of West Ham’s winner after Yuki Sugawara gave away a needless corner with a misplaced pass.
“We play good. We create a lot, find a way to be dangerous and I like lots of things but disappointed with the result,” Juric said.
“We cannot concede this kind of goal because we give a corner too easy and you have to be focused on the game 90 minutes. Not just in moments.
“After that they are much more clinical. They are much more, like Italians say b******s. Tougher, much tougher.”