West Ham goalie David Martin made his Premier League debut on Saturday at Stamford Bridge. A boyhood fan of the Hammers, Martin went toe-to-toe with the likes of Olivier Giroud, Pedro, Mason Mount and world-beater Christian Pulisic.
Facing 19 shots — six on target — Martin more than held his own, recording a clean sheet as his team stunned Chelsea 1-0.
After the match, the West Ham goalie was in tears, overcome with emotion before his teammates rallied around him in support.
A beautiful moment from West Ham as players comforted 33 year old David Martin at final whistle, who kept a clean sheet in his @PremierLeague debut pic.twitter.com/DIIAR1CmJN
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) November 30, 2019
This is what it means to keep Christian Pulisic off the scoreboard these days.
Even better, Martin helped set up the match winner. It was his long punt that started the attack finished by Aaron Cresswell in the 48th minute.
Not bad for your first career Premier League match. Certainly better than Alisson’s day.
Martin joined West Ham for the 2019-20 season after having bounced around a number of clubs. He was on the Liverpool books for four years (spent entirely out on loan) and made more than 300 appearances for MK Dons. Saturday’s match was his first appearance for West Ham in any competition.