ARNAUTOVIC REVELS IN LONDON STADIUM ATMOSPHERE

By Dan McInally

West Ham United forward Marko Arnautovic has described the atmosphere at London Stadium for Friday night's 1-1 draw with Leicester City as the loudest he’s ever heard.

After equalising on the stroke of half time, the Hammers were backed by their roaring fanbase through the second half and Arnautovic expressed his joy and excitement at such an atmosphere.

“I have never heard a louder stadium than this. It was like, wow. I couldn’t even hear my own voice when I tried to speak to Pablo Zabaleta,” said Arnautovic.

“The fans saw that we were playing good and that we wanted to win and give everything and they got behind us. Every player would like to play in front of that crowd.” 

Arnautovic’s energetic performance was reflected in the team and fanbase, and Manager David Moyes was in cheerful mood after praising both his players and the fans alike after grinding out a 1-1 draw during his London Stadium debut, and can feel hard done by not to take all three points at the end of the game.

“It was a start for us tonight. It’s not been the best place for us, but I thought the players’ performance warranted more. I thought the crowd were fantastic, they were great, they really were,” he said.

“I think any player will tell you that West Ham has always been a tough place to come over the years, with a tough crowd and they can make it that was in the stadium as well, and I think they did that vs Leicester”

The second half was dominated by the home side, and Ayew almost won it at the death with an audacious over-head kick that went inches over the cross bar. 

“I thought they were great in the second half and that’s why the crowd reacted so well,” Moyes added. 

“We lost a goal after eight minutes, when I don’t know if Leicester had been up the pitch before. They stuck at it though, they really did. The second half they made a really good go of it and in the end, we might have nicked it”

The manager also singled out Arnautovic, the Austrian having played his best game of the season for the Hammers, and the Scot was quick to give him praise.

“Marko played really well for us on Sunday, without really getting a lot of praise for it. If you’re a full back, you don’t want to play against Arnautovic because he’s got power and pace,” the manager said.

“We want him to be a big player. We spent a lot of money on him and we want him to score goals and make goals and he helped us tonight.”