Clinton Morrison awestruck by what ‘fantastic’ West Ham player did v Aston Villa on Sunday
Clinton Morrison hailed a “fantastic” and “superb” save made by West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola against Aston Villa on Sunday (22 October).
The French goalkeeper did brilliantly to keep out an effort from Douglas Luiz that was heading for the top corner early in the contest at Villa Park.
And it was a moment that really caught the eye of former Republic of Ireland striker Morrison, who was working as a pundit on BBC Radio 5 live.
“That is a fantastic save. I thought it was going in the top corner. We saw that the other day with (Diego) Dalot when (Wes) Foderingham couldn’t get to it but that is a superb save,” he said, in quotes reported by the BBC’s live blog coverage of the game.
Luiz later did get the better of Areola, though, scoring twice as West Ham were routed 4-1 at Villa Park.
Top drawer
Areola has been by and large excellent for West Ham United this season since assuming the role of first-choice goalkeeper from Lukasz Fabianski at the start of the season, having been used predominantly in cup competitions last term.
He will feel he could have done better for Luiz’s goal, but Villa had been threatening before then with Ollie Watkins guilty of missing a great opportunity for the hosts as West Ham struggled to impose themselves.
Morrison was right to be effusive in his praise of this save, it really was something out of the top drawer and is in keeping with the sort of quality he has produced between the sticks this season for West Ham.
Boss David Moyes will be hoping his goalkeeper can continue to produce the goods during a season in which they are once again competing domestically but also on the European front in the Europa League.
In other West Ham news, Michail Antonio made a “weird” transfer admission.