West Ham’s winless streak was extended to three matches after a 1-1 draw with Leicester City on Saturday as the Hammers suffered heartbreak with Wilfred Ndidi’s late equaliser from the hosts.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side took the lead through Fabian Balbuena, scoring his first goal for the club, but were handed a mountain to climb after Mark Noble’s first-half dismissal left the Hammers playing the entirety of the second period with ten men.
Despite a valiant performance, West Ham were forced to share the points but plenty of supporters were pleased with the performance of summer signing Balbuena – who provided an impact at both ends of the field.
The centre-back was superb and unfortunate to see Ndidi’s strike deflect off him and past Fabianski but it did not overshadow the performance of the 27-year-old, who was heralded as the best West Ham player of the day.
Rock-solid in defence and scoring a close-range finish, West Ham fans took to social media to praise the Paraguayan defender and we have gathered some of the best reactions below.
Balbuena always goes under the radar for so many fans, he’s been outstanding most games this season
— ML (@Michail_Lanzini) October 27, 2018
Pretty unlucky with the Balbuena deflection. Some proper defending in the second half though, catching Leicester offside, keeping shots to the outside, lots of positives to take from this one! Hope Amartey is okay.
— Brayden Kopyczyn (@BraydenKopyczyn) October 27, 2018
Good performance! Diop, Fabianski and Balbuena are amazing.
— Finnish Hammer (@AlmostaTrueFan) October 27, 2018
Fab and Balbuena were superb today. Diop and Rice stood out too. But all round a good hard earned point from the whole team. That deflection was a killer!
— Jon Sharpe (@jonnysharpe) October 27, 2018
Solid performance & plenty to build on. Silly mistake from Noble but he’ll know that better than anyone. Diop/Balbuena looking excellent. Rice quality as always.
— HammersFan02380 (@HammersFan02380) October 27, 2018
Little steps but positive ones. Thought Balbuena and Diop immense, great partnership developing. With Fabianski behind and Rice in front that's a decent half spine. Things will get better with time…..like to beat Burnley next
— Lawrie Sullivan (@LozzerOfHampton) October 27, 2018
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