Ayew - It's great to finish strongly

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  • Andre Ayew was delighted to score the Hammers’ final winning goal of the 2016/17 season as the visitors won 2-1 at Burnley
  • Sofiane Feghouli had grabbed an equaliser after Sam Vokes gave the Clarets the lead early on
  • The victory saw Slaven Bilic’s side finish the season in eleventh in the Premier League

West Ham United’s 2-1 win over Burnley on the final day at Turf Moor was a great way to end the season, according to match winner Andre Ayew.

The Ghanaian forward scored in the 72nd minute to sign off the 2016/17 in style, bagging his sixth of the campaign – a fifth goal away from London Stadium for the Hammers.

It came after Sofiane Feghouli had drawn the visitors level following Sam Vokes’ opener, and Slaven Bilic’s side dominated a second half they could have scored further goals in.

The victory meant the Claret and Blues finished eleventh in the Premier League table, though had results in the past swung one way rather than the other, Ayew highlighted it could have been even better.

“We are happy with today’s three points and to finish on a good note,” the striker said. “The whole season has been difficult so we’re happy to end like this.

“Overall, the season has been difficult, but we’re just a point away from eighth spot at the end of the day.

“We were quite disappointed because there were games where we definitely could have had more points.

My goal for sure was right place, right time. I had a similar opportunity at Stoke and missed it, so I’m happy to score today.

Andre Ayew

“You take away from it that you need to win your points and take your chances and learn from this season now. We’ll learn, and prepare for the next one.”

Ayew scored when Edimilson Fernandes’ long-range effort was saved well by Tom Heaton, though the keeper’s stop cannoned off the crossbar before falling perfectly for the Hammers’ record signing to nod in.

And it was a case of strikers’ instinct, said the forward who celebrated in front of the packed away end.

“My goal for sure was right place, right time. I had a similar opportunity at Stoke and missed it, so I’m happy to score today and hopefully now it’s the end of the season that will set us up for next season.

“We are going to have holidays now and prepare for next season.

“I think this year we have been unlucky with injuries and we didn’t start the season well. We had the Europa League also, and we didn’t manage to qualify, but after the start we had, we got to a point where we managed to turn things around, so it’s been a good end.”