Having turned the corner at the beginning of the week, and bouncing back to winning ways in a match against Brentford, The Hammers collected their second win in a row defeating Everton 3-1 at Goodison Park.
Between the sticks, Areola was the architect of West Ham’s incredible victory producing fine saves that earned him a man of the match accolade.
In the first stanza, he made two brilliant saves against Beto. In the 30th minute, he stopped the Brazilian’s attempt from close range before he denied him from the penalty spot just before the interval.
Moyes showered praise on his ‘keeper, saying he was the one who “made the difference” on the day. As quoted by Liverpool Echo Moyes said:
"I said to him that he probably made the difference and he did. His performance was terrific.”"
"I know a lot of goalkeepers get praised for different things like their use of the ball etcetera but I think most people from the era I come from, it’s the ones who save it with their hands and stop the ball going into the net and I thought he did that really well. "
"I think he’s got incredible spring which people might not see in him. He’s got athleticism which is probably as good as anyone at the club, I think it’s his genes with what he’s got and where he comes from, I think all those things play a part in it. "
"He’s just really good, he pulls off some terrific saves."
Moyes still believes there’s room for improvement for the 31-year-old. He feels Areola can do better somewhat in his distribution going forward.
Moyes still feels Areola can do better on his distribution
"He’s been very good for us, there’s bits we’d like to improve on like distribution and different things but he’s done great for us since he came into the team."
West Ham are now seventh on the log standings with 42 points accumulated from 27 points.
Ahead of them is the Europa League encounter against SC Freiburg on Thursday, 07 March at Europa-Park Stadion.