Tomáš Souček says West Ham United's victory over Everton has pointed the way for what they want to achieve in 2021.
The Hammers overcame an Everton side which started the New Year fourth in the Premier League table, with a performance that showed the solidity they have aspired to all season.
West Ham denied Everton a single clear cut chance on their goal all night at Goodison Park and took advantage through Souček's instinctive 86th minute winner.
The goal came so late the home side barely had time to respond and for Souček it capped a perfect night.
"It is a really big win to start the New Year like this," the Czech midfielder explained. "We've started as we want to continue, so hopefully we can carry on like this!
I love to play football during Christmas time. We've had three difficult games in six days, so it's good for us to end with the win tonight
Tomáš Souček
"Maybe we created more chances than Everton, but they kept more of the ball, so perhaps a draw would have been deserved but we showed our spirit because we wanted to win for all the 90 minutes.
"I felt a really big confidence from us and I think [our ambition to win showed] at the end."
The victory brings to a close a hectic festive period for the Hammers, which saw them take points from the draws against Brighton & Hove Albion and Southampton, before Friday night's victory, and Souček hailed his team's productive week.
"It was hard for me," he added. "it's the first time in my career that I've played over Christmas, normally I've had three weeks off and eat some potato salad in the Czech Republic!
"But I love to play football during Christmas time. We've had three difficult games in six days, so it's good for us to end with the win tonight."