Tomáš Souček was in a good mood after scoring another important goal in West Ham United’s 2-2 draw with Newcastle United at London Stadium.
The Czech netted for the fourth time in six matches, beating his tally for the whole of last season and matching his scoring output for his previous 61 appearances in Claret and Blue.
Souček’s strike came on eight minutes, at the end of a sweeping attack that involved Nayef Aguerd, Michail Antonio, Lucas Paquetá and Emerson, who rounded Nick Pope before squaring for the midfielder to fire home from six yards.
West Ham were the better team before half-time, but conceded two goals to Alexander Isak either side of the hour mark and seemingly looked on their way to defeat before substitute Mohammed Kudus drove in his first goal for the Club a minute from full-time to secure a hard-earned point.
Speaking to West Ham TV, Souček felt the result was a fair reflection of an intense game featuring two teams who are now among the Premier League’s big-hitters…
Tomáš, what is your immediate reaction to the match?
“I think that people should love this game because it was up and down and there were many moments in the game where things happened.
“I have to say we played very well in the first half and we could have scored even more. We were very organised and they couldn’t create any chances on our goal.
“But we didn’t start the second half well and after that we conceded from a set piece. We were then disappointed that we conceded a second, but happy that we got a draw because it was important not to lose the game.”
Lucas Paquetá and Emerson combine so well and they did so again for your goal, so when the chance arrived, you couldn’t miss!
“It’s true that these two guys have a great connection with each other and we can see that in the game and particularly in this moment with the goal. They trust each other every time and Emerson, when he passed the ball to me for the goal, it was a lovely pass and I finished it off.
“I am happy for this because I have four goals since the last international games and the next break is coming up, so I hope I take this form into the international games and coming back to West Ham in two weeks’ time.
“I feel great now and especially ready and more motivated than ever, so I just hope my performances will be like this or even better.”
Mohammed Kudus got his first Premier League goal late on – a good one and an important one to get us a point and maintain our unbeaten run?
“It’s perfect for Mo that he scored his first Premier League goal. He’s still new so we have to get connected with him as well, but for his confidence it was important that he scored because he is a winger and also a striker, so he needs to get on the scoresheet. He did that today, so that was great for us.”
Now, you’re off with Czech Republic for two UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers with Albania and the Faroe Islands, so you’ll want your goalscoring form to continue in those?
“We have two qualifiers, so we need to get six points from them, so I go there in a good mood and I hope I come back from the internationals in an even better mood!”
