West Ham United may have helped embattled manager Slaven Bilic flip the script on its poor season, and striker Andre Ayew says the boss deserves plenty of credit for the Irons’ fight back on Wednesday.
The Irons trailed London rivals Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at halftime before a 15-minute span saw Ayew score twice and Angelo Ogbonna snare a winner to send West Ham into the League Cup quarterfinals.
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“We stayed confident,” Ayew said. “We were down but the coach had the words. I want to congratulate the whole team, it’s a massive win.”
It could well be. The Irons have struggled mightily this season, Bilic’s third season with the club. After leading West Ham to the Europa League in Year One, West Ham finished 11th last season before spending big on Marko Arnautovic, Joe Hart, and Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez amongst others.
Hopes were high, but the Irons have scored just eight Premier League goals and sit 16th this season.
Now, thanks to the comeback, West Ham is three wins from a spot in Europe. So they’ve got that going for them, which is nice. From the BBC:
Vibes will be positive ahead of what is a surprisingly big match against Crystal Palace this weekend, but it doesn’t get much easier for West Ham: Liverpool home, Watford away, Leicester home, Everton away, Man City away, Chelsea home, Arsenal home.
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If the momentum, whatever that can mean, continues, West Ham may just surprise and build its Premier League record alongside this League Cup run. Or, of course, it can just be one win sandwiched between an embarrassing home loss to Brighton and Hove Albion and whatever happens at Palace.
But Bilic’s boys got it right on Wednesday. On to the next.