Mark Noble says it was nice to leave London Stadium smiling after Saturday’s win over champions Chelsea.
The West Ham captain, who had been dropped to the bench – and then out of the squad – following David Moyes’ first game as manager at Watford, was reinstated against Antonio Conte’s side and put in a much improved performance.
The Hammers, who had not won under their new manager before Saturday’s early kick-off, frustrated their London rivals from start to finish, with Marko Arnautovic’s early goal enough to take all three points.
Having not won at home since late September, Noble admitted his delight at leaving with a smile on his face, and says he’s relishing the visit of Arsenal on Wednesday.
“It’s nice to go home with a smile on my face,” Noble told the club’s official website.
“I do like winning local derbies! Chelsea, Spurs, and we’ve got another one on Wednesday night [against Arsenal].”
“When you play against these players and you play against teams like this that have so much money and can buy the best players in the world, you can’t just open up and match them up.
“You’ve got to realise that and you have to find a way to beat them. We found that way by defending, by counter-attacking and I don’t care if we defended for 90 minutes. We won the game.”
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