It did not take long for West Ham United fans to make their presence felt after returning for the game against Manchester United on Saturday.
VAR-cical as pathetic Sky Sports and officials outdone by MOTD in West Ham robbery
Nine long, miserable months have passed since supporters attended a match at the London Stadium.
And West Ham have been transformed in that time.
Vastly improved Hammers let lead slip on fan return
From a team battling to survive to a side beginning to thrive under David Moyes.
The Hammers had a chance to go third in the table with victory over Manchester United.
And they were on course when Tomas Soucek gave them a deserved lead during a dominant first hour against the Red Devils.
West Ham should have been out of sight.
Pogba the replacement panto villain
But Paul Pogba equalised after yet more VAR controversy which this time worked against West Ham and Man United went on to win comfortably 3-1.
Most Christmas pantomimes have been cancelled this year.
So it was over to Pogba to play the role of panto villain as he was booed by Hammers fans every time he touched the ball.
It was picked up by the commentators with Gary Neville suggesting Pogba’s profile would ‘always see him targeted’.
Pogba cupped his ear to the West Ham fans when he scored. Now he has spoken out about the Hammers supporters. And he had nothing but praise for their return (manutd.com).
Pogba speaks out about Hammers fans night on the boos and has nothing but praise
“So good, so good (to see West Ham fans at the game),” Pogba told manutd.com.
“It’s like good pressure, I would say. I like this. I like this pressure.
“It’s nice even for West Ham to have fans, to hear the crowd, you know. It’s such a difference, it feels good and football without fans is not football I would say.
“It is totally different. Of course, it’s football but with with the crowd you can feel the love of the fans, so good.”
Pogba was also very honest about his goal, acknowledging that Dean Henderson’s kick went out of play. But he insisted he stuck to the age old discipline of playing to the whistle.
Fair play to Pogba.
He could have used his platform to have a dig at West Ham fans.
Many others have done in the past.
Pogba clashed with Hammers captain Mark Noble at the London Stadium a couple of years ago.
But he showed class then too by posing for photos with Noble’s son Lenny and giving him his shirt after the game (The Sun).
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