Balbuena pays tribute to Haller after West Ham win v Sheffield United
Fabian Balbuena has paid tribute to Sebastien Haller after the West Ham striker scored the winning goal against Sheffield United on Sunday.
Haller, 26, waited until the 56th minute to rifle home a stunning goal from just outside the penalty area to earn the Hammers a 1-0 win at Bramall Lane.
The Ivory Coast international has been standing in up front during the last three matches due to Michail Antonio’s injury but it would be fair to say that he struggled to impress versus Liverpool and Fulham.
However, the ex-Frankurt striker made the most of his opportunity against the Blades with a superbly executed goal.
Speaking after the game, Balbuena sang the praises of his team-mates and highlighted the importanc of Haller.
“I think Seb and Jarrod [Bowen] and Pablo [Fornals] and all the lads did a good job but especially Seb as we know, as a striker, he needs the goals to give him confidence and on Sunday he had a huge opportunity to score and of course he helped us to get the three points,” said Balbuena, as quoted on West Ham’s official website.
It wasn’t simply the fact he scored the winning goal that Haller stood out against Sheffield United.
The Ivorian has been widely criticised since his club-record move to the London Stadium last year and struggled through the last two matches before the trip to Bramall Lane at the weekend.
He didn’t muster a shot against Liverpool – which is understandable considering they are the reigning Premier League champions – and only hit the target with two of his shots against Fulham [WyScout].
Against Premier League basement boys Sheffield United, Haller had three shots with one hitting the target, and also saw himself involved in a lot more of West Ham’s overall play.
He attempted just six passes against Liverpool and nine against Fulham but attempted 26 versus the Blades, completing 73 per cent of them.
Haller also attempted four dribbles at Bramall Lane and didn’t attempt any against Liverpool and Fulham.
Out of the 15 aerial duels he was involved in at the weekend, Haller won 60 per cent of them, which was a major improvement on the games against Liverpool [29%] and Fulham [33%].
It was brilliant to see Haller finally showing everyone what he’s capable of but doing that in one of three matches might see David Moyes continue to select Antonio once he’s available.
But there’s no denying that Moyes will at least have something to think about.
In other West Ham news, there’s been an update on Antonio’s potential return date for the Irons.