Jaanai Gordon was pleased to take his opportunity to show Slaven Bilic what he can do
West Ham United striker Jaanai Gordon was delighted to score the winning goal in the Hammers’ 1-0 triumph over Crystal Palace on Wednesday 11 November.
The 19-year-old forward headed Carl Jenkinson’s floated cross past the Crystal Palace goalkeeper with just a few minutes remaining.
Speaking after the match, Gordon said: “It’s definitely nice to get on the scoresheet and for it to be the winner is obviously even more special. It was a good opportunity for me to show the Gaffer what I can do, I’m thankful that he gave me 45 minutes.
“It’s always a great feeling to score, even if today was a friendly, it was against good opposition. As a forward that’s one of my main roles. Hopefully I’ll get more opportunities and game time soon.
“It was a real good cross from Jenks, to be fair it was good play throughout the move. The youngsters came on, Moses, Djair, and Amos all did well.”
So far this season, Gordon’s match time has been limited to two substitute appearances for the Development Squad by a string of niggling injuries, however, having impressed during the second half, Gordon hopes to build on his first goal of the season.
Reflecting on his opportunity to impress Slaven Bilic, he said: “I had a chance earlier which went just wide. Again, it was a good ball by Mossy, I took it on and hit it. I was very glad when the header went in.
“It was good to play against a pretty experienced Palace side, they had some first team players today so it was good to get a feel of the standard of Premier League players.
“Slaven and all of the coaching staff are excellent, they are really good people. He gives youngsters a chance as well which is really important.”
Having enjoyed his run out at the Boleyn Ground, Gordon has set his sights on a return to competitive action.
“My aims now are to get more game time and get my fitness up following my injury. We’ll have to see what happens from there. I’m not far full from fitness so I should be available for the next U21 game.”
The 19-year-old forward headed Carl Jenkinson’s floated cross past the Crystal Palace goalkeeper with just a few minutes remaining.
Speaking after the match, Gordon said: “It’s definitely nice to get on the scoresheet and for it to be the winner is obviously even more special. It was a good opportunity for me to show the Gaffer what I can do, I’m thankful that he gave me 45 minutes.
“It’s always a great feeling to score, even if today was a friendly, it was against good opposition. As a forward that’s one of my main roles. Hopefully I’ll get more opportunities and game time soon.
“It was a real good cross from Jenks, to be fair it was good play throughout the move. The youngsters came on, Moses, Djair, and Amos all did well.”
So far this season, Gordon’s match time has been limited to two substitute appearances for the Development Squad by a string of niggling injuries, however, having impressed during the second half, Gordon hopes to build on his first goal of the season.
Reflecting on his opportunity to impress Slaven Bilic, he said: “I had a chance earlier which went just wide. Again, it was a good ball by Mossy, I took it on and hit it. I was very glad when the header went in.
“It was good to play against a pretty experienced Palace side, they had some first team players today so it was good to get a feel of the standard of Premier League players.
“Slaven and all of the coaching staff are excellent, they are really good people. He gives youngsters a chance as well which is really important.”
Having enjoyed his run out at the Boleyn Ground, Gordon has set his sights on a return to competitive action.
“My aims now are to get more game time and get my fitness up following my injury. We’ll have to see what happens from there. I’m not far full from fitness so I should be available for the next U21 game.”