West Ham United attacker Marko Arnautovic has heaped praise on midfielder Andriy Yarmolenko after his brace against Everton last week.
The 6’2″ Ukrainian [Source: Transfermarkt] scored twice in the Hammers’ 3-1 win over the Toffees last week, and Arnautovic was thrilled that his team mate got off the mark.
“I’m happy he started at Everton and scored the two goals, I know what he can do, he’s a top player and we all know it,” he told Sky Sports. “He’s got the first two goals and we’re hoping they are not the last.
“For me personally I was very happy for him to score the second goal, it was an individual goal for him. He did it all himself, it was a brilliant goal.”
OPINION
Arnautovic is right to be delighted with Yarmolenko’s performance last week. The Ukraine international has been slowly integrated into the West Ham setup since joining from Borussia Dortmund, but he showed manager Manuel Pellegrini what he could at Goodison Park last week. The partnership between Yarmolenko, Arnautovic and Felipe Anderson looked scintillating and should be employed by Pellegrini as the front three moving forward. Anderson provides so much creativity, while both Yarmolenko and Arnautovic have shown themselves to be goal threats. There’s enough talent there for West Ham to get by without a conventional centre forward at the moment. The build up play would simply not be as fluid if Javier Hernandez or Lucas Perez were in the starting line up. It’s good to see a nice bond developing between Yarmolenko and Arnautovic, and that can only bode well for the Hammers as the season continues. West Ham’s front three are going to be fun to watch this year, that’s for sure.
