Felipe Anderson has admitted he almost passed up the chance to score his ‘beautiful goal’ in West Ham United’s 3-2 Premier League win over Crystal Palace.
The Brazilian continued his outstanding form with a truly sensational effort, curling high into the top corner of Wayne Hennessey’s net with an unstoppable 25-yard effort.
The goal turned out to be the Hammers’ winner in a thrilling contest at London Stadium, but the No8 revealed he considered passing the ball instead of firing it into the Eagles net!
“It was a very beautiful goal, I thought about passing the ball to a teammate but looking up, I felt there was a chance to shoot and thank God it went to the top corner,” he smiled.
Highlights: West Ham United 3-2 Crystal Palace
When asked where the goal rated in his career, Felipe Anderson was not willing to rank it in the top ten but said it may sneak into the top 20!
“It was a great goal but I scored other great goals, like the one against Manchester United, which was not easy to do, but this one was a special goal that gave us the victory, and that’s very important to me.”
The South American’s has now scored six goals this season – all of them in games which West Ham have either won or drawn – and is delighted to be playing an influential role for his new club after arriving from Lazio in the summer.
“I’m very happy to have contributed to this victory that allowed us to keep a streak that we didn’t have in a long time. That served to consolidate our work and believe in our quality.
“We are happy to keep going up in the table, match by match we’ve been improving; now we have to try and continue winning.
“We always want to go ahead to be able to control the flow of the game but sometimes it’s not possible and in situations like this we can prove that the team has grown and that we believe in ourselves. We kept our cool and we managed to get back and get the result.”
The winger was not only happy to have scored again himself, but also for Robert Snodgrass, who netted his first Premier League goal for the club against Crystal Palace with an outstanding half-volley.
“Snoddy scored a great goal and worked for the team as well and that was important, I also try to help the team scoring a goal or not, but of course, to score is even more important even if what really matters is to get the points.”
Both goals were met with a wall of noise from the Claret and Blue Army and, naturally, the Brazilian is enjoying his ever-growing relationship with the inspirational Irons supporters.
“I always say that the atmosphere here is incredible, I haven’t seen this in a long time, so giving them joy, scoring for them and contributing to the victories is amazing. With them on our side we can go far.”