Andy Townsend blown away by Lukasz Fabianski in West Ham 1-0 loss v Chelsea
Andy Townsend was left lauding Lukasz Fabianski after a terrific save in the second half between West Ham and Chelsea on Saturday evening.
Both sides were poor in the first half with Timo Werner’s goal on the stroke of half-time the only bit of quality at the London Stadium, but events started to heat up in the second period.
The Irons poured forwards in search of an equaliser but they were indebted to Fabianski at the other end to deny a brilliant long-range effort from Mason Mount.
He unleashed an effort that sprung the Poland international into action to make a big save before Werner poked a follow-up effort wide.
Ex-Blues midfielder Townsend was commentating on talkSPORT’s live coverage of the game and he showered the Irons stopper in praise despite Chelsea winning 1-0.
“Wow what a chance that is, it’s an amazing stop from Fabianksi,” he said.
“I don’t know if he ends up saving it with both hands. He [Fabianski] does [get up really quickly].”
The incident was only moments after Townsend had raved about his heroics this season.
He said: “He’s been brilliant hasn’t he, really good. Year on year he’s got better, he’s a top goalkeeper now.”
Saviour
Despite Chelsea opening the scoring in the first half Fabianski wasn’t actually pressed into action on too many occasions as the sides played out a lacklustre opening period.
But he had to be on high alert in the second half to thwart Chelsea attackers, notably Mount, as the Blues peppered his goal.
He stood up to the task though and kept the score down to a solitary goal.
Fabianski and David Moyes will surely be fuming at how easy it was for Chelsea’s stars to weave their way through to dangerous positions around our penalty area and it’s a growing concern given how porous our defence has been in recent weeks and months.
However it’s a comfort to know we have a reliable performer like him in sticks as big teams always need a top goalkeeper to keep them in games.
In other West Ham news, Trevor Sinclair shares what he’s heard about Tammy Abraham amid Irons transfer speculation.
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