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Ayew happy with 'important' goal

26th December 2016

Andre Ayew delighted to net his first goal for West Ham United on Boxing Day
Ghana forward opened scoring in 4-1 Premier League win at former club Swansea City
No20 believes both he and the Hammers will get better as the season wears on

Andre Ayew believes there is more to come from both himself and West Ham United after scoring his first goal in Claret and Blue.

The No20 netted his maiden Hammers goal to set Slaven Bilic’s side on their way to a thumping 4-1 Premier League win at his former club Swansea City on Boxing Day.

Club-record signing Ayew, who returned to action in November after three months out with a groin injury suffered at Chelsea on the opening weekend of the Premier League season, was delighted to be part of a third straight top-flight victory.

West Ham’s win, which followed hard-earned 1-0 home successes against Burnley and Hull City, lifted them up to eleventh, eight points clear of the bottom three and just four off seventh place ahead of the New Year’s Eve trip to struggling champions Leicester City.

“I think it was important to get the goal for the squad and to get my first goal here,” said Ayew. “I started the season in a very difficult way, but I’m trying to get back into my best shape.

“Things are getting better now and the boys are helping me, pushing me every day and I’m getting my confidence back. We had a great game today and hopefully we can continue like that.”

For Ayew, converting Andy Carroll’s 13^th-minute knockdown was a big moment for the Ghana star, but the 27-year-old was thinking only of the team when he was asked about the significance of his strike.

Winston Reid, Michail Antonio and Carroll were also on target in South Wales, earning West Ham their biggest win of 2016/17, three victories in a row for the first time since March and a first-ever success at Liberty Stadium.

“Personally, I think it was an important goal for me, but collectively it was our third win and we’ve done really well in the last few games,” said Ayew.

“We didn’t play our best football in the previous two games, but I think we managed to get two clean sheets and win those games.

“Today we played better football, but I think we can do even better with the ball. We’ve proved that we’ve got a good squad and if we keep working hard then we can get more results.”