Rio Ferdinand and Jermaine Jenas wowed by Gianluca Scamacca in West Ham United win vs Wolves
Rio Ferdinand and Jermaine Jenas were wowed by Gianluca Scamacca’s “mad strike” in the West Ham victory over Wolves at the weekend.
The Italian scored his first Premier League goal in the 2-0 win on Saturday 1 October as the Hammers recorded a much-needed second victory of the season, which also led to the sacking of the opposition manager Bruno Lage a day later.
Scamacca, the major summer signing from Sassuolo, collected a partially-cleared ball in the 29th minute, after combining with the other stand-out and scorer on the day Jarrod Bowen, before volleying it into the far corner to get himself off the mark in the top flight, and thoroughly impress former Iron Ferdinand and Jenas.
Speaking on Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE on YouTube (3 October, 68min 30sec) Jenas said: “Scamacca by the way, that strike…he’s nice.
Former England captain Ferdinand added: “What a strike. Mad strike. Yeah I like him as well… West Ham needed that. Bowen was good as well, he needed that performance and goal.”
Spark
The comfortable victory over a struggling Wolves side was exactly what David Moyes needed after a dispiriting start to the season.
Scamacca has done well in the Europa Conference League games, scoring three in four so far, but with the ever-present spectre of the last big-money striker signing, Sebastien Haller, hanging over him, it is the Premier League where he needs to impress.
Getting the first goal, and in style, should be a major psychological hurdle cleared, and the manager will hope that it opens the door to much more.
Perhaps even more important was the fact that Bowen looked like the player who was a constant threat last season, and made it into the England squad for his first four caps.
The goal topped off a much-improved performance where nearly all of the home side’s best work involved the former Hull winger at the London Stadium.
If expensive new arrivals and the stars who were so central to the Europa League run in the previous campaign can start to find form at the same time then this side should rapidly start climbing the table, but they have to prove they have turned a corner on a few more occasions before they can be taken seriously.