Dean Saunders stunned as ‘unbelievable’ West Ham United ace Jarrod Bowen joins Mo Salah and Riyad Mahrez club
Dean Saunders likened Jarrod Bowen to Mohamed Salah and Riyad Mahrez after scoring an “unbelievable” goal for West Ham in their 3-1 win at Brighton & Hove Albion.
Bowen brilliantly controlled Said Benrahma’s cross-field pass, took another touch to steady himself and then delicately tucked the ball past Bart Verbruggen in the Brighton goal.
Saunders, speaking on talkSPORT on Tuesday [29 August], believes it will be difficult for any Premier League player to score a better goal this season.
“If I was David Moyes, I’d turn my phone off right now and not accept any incoming calls because Jarrod Bowen has just joined the Mahrez and Salah club of controlling a 50-yard pass on the half-volley,” he said.
“What a goal. That is going to be hard to beat for me in terms of goal of the season.
“I can’t begin to tell you how difficult that is, when you’re running flat out, the ball’s coming over your shoulder and you’ve got to control it with your other foot in your stride and find the bottom corner. It’s an unbelievable goal.”
Special strike
Many associate the Goal of the Season award with a long-range strike, but Saturday’s [26 August] effort from Bowen was superb in its own way.
The technique the England international showed to bring the ball under control and then find a way past Verbruggen really was special.
Indeed, it even earned comparisons with footballing icon Diego Maradona – albeit from his father-in-law Danny Dyer.
Bowen now has two goals and an assist from three league games this season as he looks to better his 11 goal involvements from last time out.
The 26-year-old has already written his name in West Ham folklore for his late winner in June’s Europa Conference League final triumph.
It is a little surprising that Bowen has not been linked with one of the Premier League’s elite clubs, but that may well change further down the line at this rate.
For now, West Ham can enjoy seeing Bowen regularly produce the type of magic we saw at the weekend.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers are reportedly tracking three Brazilian players late on in the transfer window.