Soucek shares how he paid tribute to Leicester legend in West Ham celebration
West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek has revealed that his goal celebration paid tribute to the late Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha on Thursday.
The Hammers secured an easy 2-0 win against Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side at the London Stadium on 27 February.
Goals from the Czechia international and Jarrod Bowen were enough to take all three points in East London against a struggling Foxes outfit.
It was the 30-year-old who opened the scoring in E20 who opted against celebrating in trademark fashion and has now realised the reason why.
Soucek pays tribute to Srivaddhanaprabha with Leicester goal celebration
The fan favourite was famed for his late runs into the box and regular goalscoring under David Moyes and has maintained that despite operating from a central midfield role.
This saw Soucek score his 35th goal in claret and blue against Leicester but fans noticed the Czech ace opted against his usual celebration.
Typically, the ex-Slavia Prague man spins around multiple times before ending a jumping fist pump towards overjoyed supporters.
This wasn’t the case against the Foxes as the 30-year-old remained reserved and has since revealed this was out of respect to the opposition’s former owner Srivaddhanaprabha.
In quotes shared by Roshane Thomas via X (28 February), he said: “I didn’t think my normal helicopter celebration was the right thing to do because of what happened to the Leicester owner (Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha). I wanted to show respect to our opponents.”
Soucek shows class with West Ham celebration v Leicester City
It will come as little surprise to Hammers fans to learn how classy their Czech midfield ace has acted in what could be a sensitive situation.
Graham Potter has been impressed by Soucek since coming in and that is only likely to continue with this showcase of respect for the opposition.
This is highly likely to go down well with the Leicester fans and hierarchy who will be appreciative of such a gesture despite losing the game.
| Stat | Tomas Soucek v Leicester City |
| Goals | 1 |
| Passes completed | 35 |
| Duels won | 6 |
| Tackle win rate | 100% |
| Defensive actions | 4 |
It is fair to say that this caps off what was a positive performance from the number 28 at the London Stadium on the night.
His goal was more than deserved and continued to show why he deserves a regular starting spot in the side regardless of the likes of Carlos Soler sitting on the bench.