West Ham keeper Lukasz Fabianski ‘conscious and talking’ after nasty collision

16 hours ago

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Julen Lopetegui shared that West Ham's goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was alert and able to communicate after he had to leave the field in the first half of a 1-0 victory against Southampton due to a serious clash.

Fabianski was struck late by Saints defender Nathan Wood after he cleared a corner in the 29th minute. He needed seven minutes of medical treatment before being carried off on a stretcher.

Although the experienced goalkeeper wore an oxygen mask when he exited the field, Lopetegui clarified that he did not require hospitalization. He stayed at St Mary’s for the second half, during which Jarrod Bowen scored in the 59th minute, securing a dull Boxing Day match.

“He took a significant hit to the head and neck, which left him a bit uncertain about what he was doing. Thankfully, the good news is that he is speaking, alert, and aware,” Lopetegui explained.

"I have a conversation with him. The doctors inform me that he is improving and doing well. I remain optimistic about his recovery."

"He demonstrated that he has largely regained his clarity of mind. I'm not scared anymore. Although we were anxious before, he is doing better now, and that brings us relief because we had been quite concerned."

West Ham got off to a strong start when Carlos Soler hit the crossbar just four minutes into the game. However, the home team reacted well in the debut match of their new manager, Ivan Juric.

Paul Onuachu, playing in just his second match of the season, was a persistent threat for the Saints in attack. However, he wasn't able to convert several scoring opportunities in the first half.

Fabianski made an excellent save against Onuachu after 25 minutes of play, but just nine minutes later, he was substituted for Alphonse Areola.

Areola denied Onuachu in the stoppage time of the first half, and West Ham felt like they were going to be down to 10 players in the 51st minute when Guido Rodriguez received a red card for a late challenge on Kyle Walker-Peters.

VAR instructed referee Lewis Smith to check the incident on the pitchside monitor. After reviewing it, he changed his initial call from a red card to a yellow card. Later, Bowen secured the victory by scoring after Niclas Fullkrug had redirected Tomas Soucek's header into the Southampton penalty area.

Lopetegui mentioned, “I always need to watch the game to analyze it more thoroughly, but my initial takeaway is that we showed great resilience and worked together to endure challenges, allowing us to secure three crucial points in a match filled with difficulties.”

The new head coach of the Saints, Juric, expressed his satisfaction with his team's performance. However, he felt disappointed by how West Ham managed to score the winning goal, especially after Yuki Sugawara made an unnecessary error that led to a corner kick.

"We played well, generating plenty of opportunities and finding ways to pose a threat. I was pleased with many aspects of our performance, but I'm frustrated with the outcome," Juric stated.

"We can’t allow ourselves to give up goals like that. We gave away a corner too easily, and it’s crucial to stay focused for the entire 90 minutes, not just at certain times."

"Following that, they become significantly more analytical. As Italians might put it, they can be quite ruthless. They're definitely tougher, much tougher."