Joe Cole: West Ham goalscorer Said Benrahma ‘could be a hero here forever’ after performance against AZ Alkmaar
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Published 11/05/2023 at 22:45 GMT+1
Both Joe Cole and Owen Hargreaves were thoroughly impressed with Said Benrahma after an imposing display against AZ Alkmaar for West Ham in the first leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final tie in London. Speaking after the match, Cole said that the playmaker "could be a hero here forever" given the importance of the result to David Moyes' team.
Said Benrahma
Image credit: Getty Images
Joe Cole believes that Said Benrahma could be a West Ham hero “forever” for his goalscoring performance during the 2-1 win over AZ Alkmaar.
The two sides met on Thursday night in the first leg of their Europa Conference Leg semi-final in London, and for around half an hour they were trailing to their Dutch opponents.
However, Benrahma put in a player-of-the-match performance and levelled for the home side on 67 minutes.
Twelve minutes later, Michail Antonio scored to give David Moyes’ side a one-goal advantage going into next week’s return leg.
Speaking on BT Sport, Cole and former Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves were full of praise for the Algerian.
“He was the best player,” said Hargreaves. "I don’t think anyone could really live with him. He was always running at people and with his ability, he is really hard to play against. His team-mates kept feeding him because he was the guy who was going to decide the game.”
Cole added: “He has his full-back on toast.
“He has got the quality and he trusts his ability to draw two or three players towards him and he thinks, ‘I am going to drop a shoulder, wriggle my way out of this’.
“I have always been a fan of his and after tonight I think he could be a hero here forever. He changed the course of that game. His ability and his corner for the penalty. He was fantastic.”
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