West Ham United broke their Erling Haaland hoodoo during Saturday’s heroic backs-against-the-wall performance against Manchester City – thanks to a little help from Mads Hermansen.
Hermansen pulled off a ‘brilliant’ save at Fulham last time out to secure three invaluable points in West London.
The in-form Dane did not leave it quite so late this time around. But, leaping to his right to tip Haaland’s goalbound shot around the corner with 60 minutes on the clock, Mads Hermansen is fast emerging as a load-bearing pillar in West Ham United’s latest survival bid.
Genuinely HEROIC! 💪
When was the last time you saw a defensive performance better than that?!
Mads Hermansen denies Erling Haaland as West Ham United halt Manchester City
Haaland had scored only two open play goals in 17 matches in all competitions heading into Saturday’s late kick-off. Two in 18 now.
Slipped in for a rare one-v-one opportunity, the usually irrepressible centre-forward shifted the ball onto his left boot and attempted to curl his shot into the far corner.
Hermansen was having none of it.
“What a save! From Haaland’s perspective, who is not scoring goals at the moment, he did everything right,” Hammers icon Joe Cole said on TNT Sports. “Hermansen, that’s an incredible save.”
“It’s an excellent save because it goes through the defenders legs,” Ally McCoist agreed. “A brilliant save, he sees it late.”
Nuno Espirito Santo made the right call dropping Alphonse Areola
As a strangely subdued, almost self-conscious Haaland scuffed another chance wide ten minutes later, it brought to mind the conclusion of 2019’s It Chapter Two. Well, for your humble, possibly quite disturbed correspondent, anyway.
Haaland as Pennywise; visibly deflating as ‘The Losers Club’ finally pluck up the courage to stand up to their bogeyman.
West Ham are certainly not a ‘losing club’ these days. Since Hermansen replaced Alphonse Areola in last month’s 2-0 win at Burnley, the Hammers have been defeated only once in six league matches, keeping clean sheets in half of them.
How do you feel about Mads Hermansen NOW? 🇩🇰 🧤
Has he won you over? Or are there still doubts?
Of all the decisions Nuno has made since taking charge, bringing Hermansen back for the run-in was not only one of the most contentious – raising many an eyebrow at the time – but also potentially the most inspired.
This was Hermansen’s best performance since that £18 million move from Leicester City in August, commanding his area magnificently in addition to a couple of highlight reel reaction saves.
That it took until the hour mark for the Dane to be tested for the first time, though, is testament to an outstanding defensive performance from the centre-forward to the centre-halves, and everyone in between.
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