Lucas Paqueta says he is feeling “more and more at ease” at West Ham, after his equaliser earned the Hammers a draw at Newcastle on Saturday.
The Brazilian initially struggled after his £51million move from Lyon last summer, but is starting to make a positive impact under David Moyes. Paqueta impressed in a central midfield role alongside Declan Rice in a 3-4-3 formation against Newcastle — and scored to ensure West Ham left St James’ Park with a 1-1 draw.
West Ham have lost just one of their past six games to ease the pressure on Moyes, and Paqueta said: “I think it’s a very important point. “Newcastle are at the top end of the table and we need to get points against those teams. It was a very closely contested game and I’m proud of the team’s effort and the point.
“I’m very happy with the goal. It’s something I’ve been striving for and you feel a bit anxious to get that goal. I’m happy to have scored and to help the team get an important point.”
Paqueta added: “I’m feeling more and more at ease in the team, connecting with my team-mates and I hope that from here on out I can do my best, I can help the team and we can get positive results. I think we have started to play a little better, we’ve started to understand each other more on the pitch and we’re working harder.
“And I think we reaped the fruits of that [at Newcastle] with the result we got, which was an important point, and the other victories we have had in recent weeks.”
West Ham host Chelsea in what looks like a fiery London derby at lunchtime on Saturday. David Moyes’ side are showing signs of improvement of late and claimed a creditable draw away at Newcastle as they build on a promising few weeks.
