Jarrod Bowen believes Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers will give West Ham United the confidence they need to climb the Premier League table as they head into Autumn.
The No20 was on target as his team took an important step forward against the men from Molineux, rifling home in the second half to double the lead given to the hosts by a beautiful strike from Gianluca Scamacca.
Bowen’s crisp finish inside José Sá’s near post ended his wait for a first Premier League goal of the season too, and was reward for his commitment and belief in plugging away for that moment to come.
With a European game at Anderlecht and another home Premier League clash with Fulham to come in the week ahead, Bowen says now is the time to kick on.
“It’s just what we needed,” Bowen smiled. “We hadn’t made the start we wanted and then we’ve had an international break when we could regroup our thoughts and go again to get ready to be on the front foot.
“We wanted to be a bit more clinical and dominant with our performances. I thought today we suffered without the ball, but what this manager does is make us a tough group to beat and break down.
“You saw on the counter-attack the chances we had and then we scored two well-taken goals. A clean sheet as well which the defenders will love and it’s a massive three points for us with a lot of games coming up.
“Hopefully this is the first of many wins we can pick up along the way.”
West Ham had yet to notch a first half goal in the league this season before Scamacca broke the deadlock in the 29th minute.
Bowen was clear in his post-match interview of the importance of scoring the opening goal towards the final outcome – something he feels the team hasn’t done enough so far in 2022/23.
“It was really important to score the first goal,” he continued. “We’ve gone behind too many times for our liking at the start of the season and that has meant we’ve been chasing the game.
“To go 1-0 up and be more in control of the game was great. It was a great finish from the big man and he’s been excellent so he thoroughly deserves today.”
For Bowen himself, he was thrilled to break his league duck for the campaign – and with such a fine goal too which showcased his ability to stun a spinning ball in his path and beat Sá with a quickly-taken strike.
“Scoring the first Premier League goal is a massive weight off the shoulders,” he admitted. “I scored a couple in Europe but the first Premier League goal is the one you want.
“I had a couple of chances today and when you’re not scoring some people say you should be dropped, but you keep plugging away, keep doing the basics – I always do the basics every single day – and I know the belief I’ve got in myself and from everybody around me that I’ll score goals.
“Today I’m delighted obviously with the goal, and with the victory as well it’s perfect.”
