By Hughie Southon
Kurt Zouma saw his big pal Nayef Aguerd score a fine goal and reckons nobody in the team deserved it more.
The two have become firm friends since the Moroccan’s arrival at West Ham and we look far better when they are together at the heart of the defence.
Kurt was delighted that the defence managed to keep a clean sheet and that his mate should score with such a great header was the icing on the cake.
With 25 minutes played, Aguerd rose highest to convert a fine free-kick from Thilo Kehrer, a goal that saw the Irons move out of the bottom three and remain unbeaten on home turf in 2023.
And Zouma admitted: “It’s a very good header from Nayef. I tried to get on his nerves a bit yesterday (Saturday) by saying: ‘he will never score here’ but I am very happy for him!
“Nayef deserves it. He has been playing well since he came back from injury. And hopefully, other players will [take inspiration from him] and score in the next game.”
After sustaining an ankle injury in a pre-season match at Rangers in July last year, a long road to recovery for Aguerd saw the No27 return just in time to feature at the 2022 FIFA World Cup finals for his country.
“Since Nayef joined, I have tried to help him because he did not know England very well,” Zouma stated. “But I think he has settled in very well, we are like a family here and we all help each other as much as possible.”
Zouma himself was impressive in his third straight home fixture, having played his part in a 4-0 win at AEK Larnaca to reach the UEFA Europa Conference League last eight and also a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa last month, Zouma helped his side register an eleventh point from their last five home league assignments.
Great to know that Big Kurt has looked out for and is firm friends with Nayef. A little bit of banter seems to have done the trick and I hope that a few more of our players follow his lead.
Onwards and Upwards.
COYI