West Ham United’s Konstantinos Mavropanos will not be short of motivation as he looks to put his giant frame and sizeable noggin to good use once again in the opposition penalty area.
Mavropanos ended the Hammers’ 86-match wait for a goal from a centre-half when powering that equaliser past Gianluigi Donnarumma; the Hammers’ only shot on target during a valiant 1-1 draw against Manchester City.
The former Arsenal man then emulated James Collins in the 4-0 dismantling of Wolves. The first West Ham United centre-back to score a brace since 2013.
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If he was to find a way past Coaimhin Kelleher during Saturday’s London derby at Brentford, Konstantinos Mavropanos could put salvation within reach. A win, coupled with an Aston Villa victory over Tottenham a day later, would extend their lead over 17th to five points with three games remaining.
As if he needed it, a further dash of motivation could arise from the prospect of entering the West Ham history books.
Dinos Mavropanos has three Premier League goals this season for West Ham United
No centre-back to wear the claret and blue kit has ever scored more than three goals in a single Premier League campaign. Kurt Zouma, Angelo Ogbonna and Winston Reid came close, but Mavropanos could break new ground by scoring just one more across the last four matchdays.
The legendary Julian Dicks is the only defender ever to score more than three in a single campaign. He actually netted 24 times in 134 games.
But Dicks, remember, took penalties. He also played as a left-back so tended to spend more time in the attacking third than Mavropanos does.
It is amazing, really, to think that West Ham went nearly 90 games and over three years without a central defender scoring a single Premier League goal. The most recent, before that Man City draw, came from Mavropanos himself in a 2-0 away win at Arsenal.
Talk about opening the floodgates. Mavropanos would have made it a fantastical four in four had Dean Henderson not clawed away a trademark thumping header during the recent 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace.
“We’ve been working so hard in every aspect of the game. Set-pieces were one of the most important parts of the game at the beginning of the season where we had problems,” Mavropanos says on the latest Ironcast podcast.
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“So, we worked on that as well, and now it seems like we are a really strong side defensively and offensively from set-pieces.
“[Nuno Espirito Santo demands] a lot in every aspect of the game, and especially set-pieces because it’s a moment that can change the game. It’s really important. Since he arrived, he gave a lot of attention to that. It was one of the main factors that we had to change and improve, so I think it’s going well.”
“To be honest, I love heading the ball.
“[Against Crystal Palace] when I hit the ball, I thought that the ball was going in. [Dean] Henderson made a great save, to be fair. A great save. But I really felt like the jump was so powerful that I thought the ball would go into the net.”
If Mavropanos connects with another corner kick at full pelt this weekend, Brentford might not be so fortunate.
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