West Ham: Five Greatest Moments Of 2020
2. Super Strikes
It may not be one exact moment, but 2020 did provide West Ham fans with some brilliant goals to look back on. From long-range screamers to bicycle kicks 2020 had it all. Sebastien Haller may frustrate fans at times, but no one can question the quality of his goals when he scores them.
The Ivorian international managed two overhead kicks in 2020. One was against Bournemouth, but the best one was against Crystal Palace earlier in December. Michail Antonio also managed an overhead kick against Manchester City, but Haller’s strike against Palace was the best.
As the Hammers were 1-0 down, Haller latched onto a cross from Coufal and perfectly connected with the ball. The strike powered past Vicente Guaita in as the ball flew off the striker right-foot. The goal emulated that spirit of Andy Carroll’s a few years ago at the same goal end.
The Hammers managed to also impress from range. Two notable distance strikes come to mind. The first was Declan Rice‘s effort against Watford. The Englishman had not scored in the entirety of the 2019/20 season until the six-pointer against the Hornets.
At the London Stadium, the match between the two sides was vital. A Watford win would have sucked the Hammers back into the relegation dog-fight. In comparison, a win for West Ham would pretty much guarantee survival.
Having raced into a two-goal lead, West Ham had settled the nerves of fans watching from home. Rice then put the Hammers out of sight. The Englishman picked up the ball around thirty yards from the goal out on the left side of the pitch. Rice then cut inside and fired a dipping shot past Ben Foster in spectacular fashion.
The best goal of 2020 though has to go to West Ham’s Argentine Jewel, Manuel Lanzini. The scene was like something from a Shakespearean play. The Hammer’s had gone three goals down to rivals Tottenham Hotspur after a first-half blitz.
With fans expecting the game to finish in a humiliating defeat, against all odds quite the opposite happened. Going into the final eight minutes of the match Fabian Balbuena pulled a goal back with a header before Davinson Sanchez deflected into his own net from a Coufal cross.
With time ticking down it looked like the Hammer’s efforts would count for little, until Robert Snodgrass won a free kick in the Spurs half. Aaron Cresswell whipped in a cross that was cleared by the defence. The ball looked to fall to Snodgrass who couldn’t get a shot off as Harry Winks got in the way.
The deflection from the midfielder fell to Lanzini. The Argentine from thirty-yards cut across the ball and sent a curling shot over Hugo Lloris and against the crossbar and post and into the goal. The players, manager and coaches went crazy in jubilation. The goal went on to win goal of the month and will be one of the favourites to win the goal of the season.