Leandro Trossard’s late goal proved to be enough to take all three points against West Ham on Sunday, but his decisive strike was not the end of the drama on a hugely important afternoon at the London Stadium.
Having strived for the breakthrough for nearly 85 minutes, it finally arrived when Trossard crashed home Martin Odegaard’s cutback in the area, leading to an eruption of joy in the away end.
But there was to be another twist deep in injury-time. Callum Wilson’s shot crossed the line following a corner, but the referee eventually disallowed it after a VAR review, for a foul on David Raya. It made for an emotionally-charged finish.
“It was quite tense at the end,” Trossard said with huge understatement after the game, “and we’re really happy that it went our way.
“You have to go on until the last minute, and especially in those games, we knew it would be tight because we know what we’re playing for as well. But yeah, I was just so relieved that the ball went in the back of the net.
“I think it was an amazing run from Martin to be fair, he did so well to get me to the ball, and it was just for me to put it in the net. At that moment, I had the belief that we would keep the clean sheet because we’re good at that as well, so credit to the boys, everyone fought a lot and I think it’s a deserved win.”
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Trossard’s strike came just after Raya had made a huge stop to keep out Mateus Fernandes when he was one-on-one. It was another massive moment from our Spanish keeper, who has won the Premier League Golden Glove award for the third successive season.
“I think there again he showed his quality,” Trossard added, “like he has done all season. In the big moments he’s stepped up well to keep it at 0-0, and then on the other hand, I scored that goal and it was a big one.”
The final big moment of the game came when West Ham’s late equaliser was ruled out, though Trossard said he didn’t have a clear view of the incident.
“No, I couldn’t see at all – I had my back to it, but from the very first moment I thought that it was quite clear that it was a foul, so I had a lot of belief that you turn back and play but at that moment you’re thinking a lot. But yeah, in the end I think it’s a foul.”
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