Mateus Fernandes was the man of the moment as West Ham United beat Sunderland on Saturday.
It was a huge win for West Ham United, who now trail Nottingham Forest and Premier League safety by just two points – for 24 hours or so at least.
Indeed, West Ham were brilliant in their win over Sunderland and Fernandes was perhaps the standout.
How much money do you think Mateus Fernandes is worth now?! 😍
An absolute baller
Credit: Getty Images/Rob Newell – CameraSport
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The Portuguese midfielder built on his excellent display against Tottenham last weekend with another fine performance against the Black Cats.
Fernandes was fantastic against Sunderland and scored the third goal on the day with a fantastic strike from range, seconds after he played a wonderful cross-field ball from deep in his own half.
Such was the level of his performance, compatriot and former West Ham defender Jose Fonte was particularly impressed.
Jose Fonte hails Mateus Fernandes after West Ham beat Sunderland
After the game, Fernandes took to social media platform Instagram.
He captioned a collage of images from the clash: “Great result and performance. What a feeling!!”
Fonte, who played for West Ham between 2017 and 2018, responded with: “Good kid!!!”
Describe this goal in just one word 🔥
I’ll start: ‘rocket’
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Fernandes has been linked with a move away from West Ham and performances like that will do little to quell that speculation.
Still, he remains a West Ham player for the next few months at least and perhaps more goals like the one he scored against Sunderland could be coming.
The midfielder spoke to West Ham’s official YouTube channel after the game and talked of how he’s becoming more confident about shooting from range.
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images
“I’ve started to do it [shoot more] during training sessions,” he said.
“I need to try more in the games because I can shoot good.”
That is hugely promising. West Ham need all the help they can get right now and everyone needs to chip in.
Though the impact Fernandes has on the team goes far beyond goals, knowing that he has that in his locker can only be a positive thing.
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