West Ham extended their winning streak in December to four matches after seeing off rock-bottom Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday.
First-half goals from Robert Snodgrass and Michail Antonio saw the Hammers sink their London rivals at Craven Cottage, sitting ninth in the table and now just two points behind Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United.
It was a tough start to the season for Manuel Pellegrini’s side but significant progress has been made during a more favourable run of fixtures – and there is every chance the winning streak will continue in the upcoming clashes with Watford, Southampton, Burnley and Brighton.
Considerable investment was seen during the summer as Pellegrini rejuvenated his line-up but, despite the signing of Ryan Fredericks, veteran full-back Pablo Zabaleta continues to be first choice down the right side.
The Argentina international has hinted he could retire at the end of the season but many fans still believe he has enough left in the tank to be an asset for a couple more seasons and made their thoughts clear after Saturday’s win.
2 more years, 2 more years Zabaleta!🎵
— Bubble Blower ⚒️ (@BubbleBlowerWHU) December 15, 2018
2 more years 2 more years zabaleta 2 more years 2 more years I pray 2 more years 2 more years zabaleta plays football the West Ham way⚒
— Jack (@jackgiddings3) December 15, 2018
Pablo . Love your commitment and application every time you pull on the shirt. great job today. City’s loss is our gain thank you ⚒⚒
— andrew easto (@captmarvel1008) December 15, 2018
Zab, make sure you are here next season. Thanks.
— Paul Cole ⚒️ (@DjPaulCole) December 15, 2018
Fantastic performance and professional job done today. Well done, keep up the hard work. You are a legend of a professional
— Darrell Roberts (@darrell210474) December 15, 2018
Never leave
— Sam Martin (@samuelm36) December 15, 2018
Stay at West Ham for at least another season
— Brad (@BradHellyer1) December 15, 2018
Previous article by Josh Challies
‘One more to go’: These West Ham fans are all saying the same after big announcement