The London Stadium provided West Ham much-needed inspiration on Monday night, as the Hammers finally stopped losing with a 2-nil win over Huddersfield Town in what was their first home game of the season.
Both teams played a goalless draw for the first 60 minutes until last summer’s signing Andrew Ayew proved to be an inspired substitution.
Javier Hernandez was sacrificed for the Ghanaian international, and it was a gamble that paid off, with the former Swansea man assisting Pedro Obiang’s opener after 8 minutes on the pitch, before he wrapped up victory 5 minutes later with the final goal of the game.
Slaven Bilic’s decision to introduce Ayew was definitely a game-changing one, and when asked what the Croatian manager told him ahead of being brought one, Ayew told Starsport : “Not much, just to do my job.
“I went away for the internationals, came back and had a little injury but managed to get on the teamsheet to play.
“I managed to get on and get a goal too, it’s important for any player to score.
“We can build on this victory. We don’t have to get too excited. We’ve played at home – won – and now we go to West Brom which will be a very difficult place to go.
“We have to be patient, keep working hard. Three points doesn’t change things. One week is different from another week.
“Now we’re going to smile for 48 hours but we have to get back to work straight away and get some points at West Brom
Since arriving from the Liberty Stadium last summer, Ayew had failed to replicate the sparkling form that saw him bag 12 goals in 34 league games in his maiden EPL season.
He could only manage 6 goals in 28 league appearances for the London Stadium outfit prior to Monday night’s game.
Given his new-found inspiration after guiding West Ham to their first league win of the campaign, Hammers fans would hope Ayew finally rediscovers his early Premier League days’ form going forward.
