West Ham’s new hero Aaron Cresswell has said that Andriy Yarmolenko jokingly questioned his free-kick ability just before he scored against Manchester United. In an interview with whufc.com, Cresswell revealed the tongue-in-cheek conversation with Yarmolenko prior to the goal.
The Irons were 1-0 up at home to Man United when Mark Noble won a free-kick in a promising position. Having just missed one, Cresswell stepped up again. Yarmolenko trudged over to him and made a joke about it before Cresswell hit the top corner.
Cresswell told the club’s official website: “The funny thing was, I’d just had one about ten minutes before and it wasn’t a bad effort, to be fair, it was pretty close, and I stepped up to the second one and I had it in my head that I wanted to take it.
“Yarma came up and he’s a funny character and he looked at me and he said ‘Really! Are you going to take it?’ and we laughed about it. Anyway, I took it and luckily it went right in the top corner!”
Cresswell and Yarmolenko lead West Ham charge
Ironically, prior to the Man United game, Cresswell and Yarmolenko were the two players under the spotlight. Cresswell was only in the side because Arthur Masuaku was sent off against Aston Villa. And Yarmolenko’s Villa performance was criticised by fans.
However, they have both netted two goals in their last two games to turn things around. Both Cresswell and Yarmolenko now look like key West Ham players.
Cresswell’s comments about Yarmolenko also show the type of character that he is. The Ukrainian winger is a popular figure in the Hammers side and a crucial cog in Manuel Pellegrini’s plans. Hopefully, the pair can maintain their high-performance levels.
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