Carlton Cole mind blown by ‘unbelievable’ Alphonse Areola moment in West Ham United win v Anderlecht
Carlton Cole was blown away by Alphonse Areola’s match-winning save for West Ham in their 1-0 victory at Anderlecht in the Europa Conference League.
Gianluca Scamacca’s 79th-minute goal won the game for the Irons in Brussells on Wednesday night but Fabio Silva came extremely close to equalising not long after.
Areola, 29, pulled off an amazing point-blank save to deny Silva headed effort, leaving Cole’s mind blown in the BT Sport studio.
“He’s had a great chance to make it 1-1,” said Cole on BT Sport 2 on Thursday night (7 October, 07:38pm).
“It’s great movement there [by Silva] and you’re expecting him to hit the net.
“But Areola, take nothing away from him. Unbelievable. Great reaction.
“Areola does this quite a lot and it’s an extra credit because it’s like scoring a goal for a striker.
“It’s something unbelievable.”
Wow
It was quite a remarkable save by Areola.
Not only was the header just yards out from goal, it was also directed at an awkward position for Areola.
The former Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper had to flip his body up and get a hand down low as the header was aimed just to the side of his torso.
It’s an awkward area for goalkeepers to get to at the best of times, let alone when it’s point-blank.
Areola’s reactions were outstanding and the agility he showed details why he should be in the France squad for the World Cup this winter.
It also suggests that the France international is being under-used by David Moyes.
We love Lukasz Fabianski but it’s time for Areola to take the number one shirt in the Premier League now.
Fabianski is 37 years old and could end up leaving us at the end of this season.
Areola’s at the peak of his career and he showed at Anderlecht why he has what it takes to start regularly in the league for the Hammers.