Jarrod Bowen was bursting with pride and delight after scoring the crucial goal to power West Ham United to a 2-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers at the end of an emotional few days for everyone at the Club.
Hammers stalwart Michail Antonio was involved in a serious road traffic accident on Saturday, and ahead of kick-off on Monday night skipper Bowen talked of the emotions shared within the West Ham camp over the weekend as they worried for their friend’s welfare.
All of the squad wore special ‘Antonio 9’ shirts during the warm-up at London Stadium, as well as walk-out tops adorning the Jamaican international striker’s name, with the latter, and each of the night’s match-worn jerseys being put up for auction, with all of the proceeds raised set to be split between the NHS and Air Ambulances UK Charity, the national charity supporting the lifesaving work of the UK’s Air Ambulances.
With the crowd voicing their support for Antonio throughout the Wolves contest, and engaging in a round of applause when the clock ticked past the nine-minute mark, Bowen was quick to pay his own tribute to his fellow forward when he made it 2-1 in the 72nd minute, lifting an Antonio shirt up towards the supporters.
Bowen said: “It’s been an emotional couple of days, so I’m really proud to have scored tonight and to have been able to dedicate it to Mick.
“I was actually looking for the top when Mo [Kudus] had had a goal disallowed earlier in the game, so when mine went in I went looking for it again!
“Mick’s obviously not with us, but I’m sure he’ll have been watching on. He’ll have heard the fans singing his name, and overall it was just a special moment after a tough period.”
While particularly poignant amidst the external circumstances, Bowen’s goal was hugely significant in the course of the direction of the clash under the lights in east London.
The 27-year-old struck just three minutes after the visitors’ Matt Doherty had levelled the encounter with a neat finish, following Tomáš Souček’s looping header that had broken the deadlock nine minutes after half-time.
“I’m really happy with the goal,” Bowen continued. “As soon as I got in the position, there was only really one thought in my mind. With everything that’s happened in the last 48 to 72 hours, it was just a great feeling.
“It was goalless at half-time, and I think we were just lacking a bit of energy. We said that to each other at half-time, and we’d also identified set-pieces as an area to put pressure on them.
“We made a little tweak at half-time, so that I would take the first corner on that side, and it came off with Tomáš scoring, so it was great to see us make the most of those opportunities and get over the line when it mattered.”
Three points on home turf brought an end to a two-game losing streak for the Irons, while lifting them up to 18 points in the Premier League standings - just six off the top seven.
While Bowen hopes this result can springboard his side into a run of form over the festive period, he also reflected on a tense moment at full-time, involving him and Wolves captain Mario Lemina.
He added: “It’s a huge result. We knew tonight was a must-win really, coming off the back of two defeats, and we just had to get the three points in whatever way we could.
“We’ve had a couple of goals disallowed, so it could’ve been a bit more comfortable, but we kept fighting, and I think we deserved it. We felt like we deserved more at Leicester last week, but unlike then, tonight we’ve managed to take our chances. We go to Bournemouth now, looking to back tonight up.
“I don’t think there’s any bad blood with what happened at the end. I wanted to shake his hand, as I think that’s the respectful thing for two captains to do after a game. I probably boiled over a bit at the end, with a bit of everything coming out, but it’s put to bed now and I’m just happy with the final result.”
