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Murphy raves over West Ham duo Noble and Arnautovic

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Former England international Danny Murphy has praised key West Ham United men Mark Noble and Marko Arnautovic for their parts in the team’s 3-1 win over Manchester United on Saturday.

The Hammers emerged from the clash at the London Stadium with all three points courtesy of goals from Felipe Anderson, Marko Arnautovic and a Victor Lindelof own goal.

And Murphy was full of praise for their performance: “For West Ham, the system played to Marko Arnautovic’s strengths and he was the difference,” he wrote in the Mail.

“Mark Noble rolled back the years and overall the West Ham players supported each other in numbers — the complete opposite to United. Everyone in a claret-and-blue shirt gave a 7/10 display at least.”

OPINION

Murphy is correct, Arnautovic and Noble were excellent. The whole Hammers team played exceptionally well, but the aforementioned duo did stand out. The Austrian has emerged as a talismanic figure for West Ham and is the man the other players look for when they need a moment of magic. Noble’s return from injury has also been key for Manuel Pellegrini’s side, and the captain has succeeded in bringing out the best in his fellow midfielders Declan Rice and Pedro Obiang. The East London outfit have been going from strength to strength in recent weeks, and Arnautovic and Noble have been key to their renaissance. United had no answer for either of them. Noble was able to dictate terms in midfield and he had a hand in the opening and closing goals, while Arnautovic put the game to bed with a cool finish after the Red Devils had pulled a goal back. They are both key for the Hammers and they showed their importance to the team yet again on Saturday.

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