Everything seemed to click into place for West Ham United record signing Felipe Anderson in the victory over Burnley.
The Brazilian had struggled for any consistency in a West Ham shirt during a topsy turvy start to life under Manuel Pellegrini.
Some supporters had started to question the £40 million Brazilian.
But he stepped up against Burnley with a man of the match display and two goals.
Anderson’s performance drew praise from his manager, teammates, fans, pundits and even co-owner David Gold.
‘Not everyone is Dimitri Payet’
And Hammers skipper Mark Noble has told the Evening Standard he hopes it can be a springboard for the former Lazio man to achieve great things in East London IF supporters stay off his back during the hard times.
“I was really pleased he did so well and sent him a text after to say how I happy was for him,” Noble wrote in his column for the Evening Standard.
“Players are not always going to come here and hit the ground running, as Dimitri Payet did.
‘It’s important our fans stick by him’
“But that is what some people expect when they see a big fee paid for someone.
“I hope that match will spur Felipe on. He will have games when he’s not that good, because he’s a flair player. It’s important our crowd stick by him then, because they’ve seen how special he can be.
“He doesn’t speak very good English yet, so it has not been easy to have an in-depth conversation with him, but he’s a great, kind lad who wants to do well. I’m sure he’ll be a great player for us, but he might need a bit of time.”
Pressure unwarranted?
Anderson may have been feeling the pressure before the Burnley performance.
But a new statistic suggests he shouldn’t have been.
He is keeping some company too rubbing shoulders with the likes of David Silva, Eden Hazard and Mohamed Salah.
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