West Ham United hero Konstantinos Mavropanos made quite the impact on Joe Cole during their draw with Manchester City.
Indeed, Mavropanos was brilliant as West Ham United drew 1-1 with Man City, a result that moves Nuno Espirito Santo’s side out of the bottom three in the Premier League.
It has been a remarkable week for the Greek international. Mavropanos – not always the most convincing of players – scored the winning penalty against Brentford in the FA Cup on Monday before bagging the equaliser against City.
Who was West Ham’s MOTM vs Man City and why?!
Simply referencing his goal would not do the defender justice, though. Mavropanos was excellent defensively too, and Cole was significantly impressed.
Speaking on TNT Sports, Cole said: “This is one of the best centre-back displays I have seen this season, from Konstantinos Mavropanos. He has been immaculate.”
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Mavropanos' performance is the best by a West Ham defender since… ?
Mavropanos’ impressive stats against Chelsea
It is difficult for any statistics to do the Greek international justice.
Those of a neutral persuasion would surely have been marvelling at his display, kicking and heading every ball along with him.
Reducing his performance down to mere numbers does feel somewhat churlish, but his statistics are impressive.
As per FotMob data, Mavropanos made a stunning 21 defensive contributions in the game.
They included three tackles, four blocks, ten clearances, four interceptions and winning all three of his ground duels.
One of those blocks included taking an Erling Haaland volley right to the face during the dying embers of the game.
Mavropanos put his body on the line and is well worthy of all the praise he is currently getting.
Dropped from the starting lineup for West Ham’s last Premier League game, this was some way to respond and remind Nuno just what a fine player he is.
West Ham’s recent revival has been a team effort. The likes of Crysencio Summerville, Mads Hermansen and Axel Disasi have attracted plenty of headlines in recent months, and Mavropanos is worthy of special mention too.
The mere thought of Premier League survival may not have been possible without him.
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