An emotional Pablo Fornals helped ease West Ham’s relegation worries on Sunday with an audacious scorpion kick in their Premier League clash against Bournemouth.
At the time of writing, David Moyes’ side are six points clear of the relegation zone after they secured an emphatic 4-0 win over struggling Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
Michail Antonio opened the scoring early on for the Hammers, who have enjoyed a memorable week following positive results against Arsenal and AA Gent.
Brazilian midfielder Lucas Paqueta soon made it two with 12 minutes on the clock before in-form Declan Rice handed the away side a three goal cushion.
Then, with the game already done and dusted, Hammers playmaker Pablo Fornals decided to score one of the goals of the weekend after some great wing play from Jarrod Bowen.
Watch the Goal ….
Pablo Fornals with the scorpion kick goal!
📺: @peacock | #BOUWHU pic.twitter.com/mUeO3jTSae
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) April 23, 2023
Le coup du scorpion de Pablo Fornals pour marquer avec West Ham. 🦂🔥
🎥 @CanalplusFoot pic.twitter.com/G6AYgTXZbA
— Actu Foot (@ActuFoot_) April 23, 2023
¡A LO RENÉ HIGUITA! 🤯 ¡El gol de escorpión de @pablofornals! 🔥
¡De locos! #PremierLeagueDAZN ⚽ 🏴 pic.twitter.com/ZUID5mUnjo
— DAZN España (@DAZN_ES) April 23, 2023
As you can see from the below pictures, Fornals managed to adjust his body before acrobatically flinging his right boot at the ball.
He then appeared to be in tears as he celebrated alongside his teammates.
One fan commented on the goal, saying: “Olivier Giroud, is that you? What a strike Pablo Fornals,” while another wrote: “Don’t think I love anything more than Pablo Fornals to be honest.”
A third added: “Pablo Fornals needs a run in this West Ham side now. That goal will give him so much confidence to kick on. What a finish.”
Fornals, who signed for West Ham from Villarreal in 2019 for a reported £24 million, has scored five goals in 41 appearances under David Moyes this season, although he hasn’t been starting as much as he’d like to.
Speaking to West Ham’sofficial channelearlier this month, he opened up on his lack of minutes.
“I obviously want to play more in the Premier League, but it is what it is,” he said.
“Like all my teammates, I want to play, but I will wait for my chance to play again, and when I do get the chance, I’ll make sure I am ready.
“The main thing is to be together inside. If we do that, these last months of the season will be better for everyone.
West Ham’s Pablo Fornals pulled out the scorpion kick 🤯🦂 pic.twitter.com/UaR7FSbF6f
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 23, 2023
He added: “Of course, at the beginning of the season, I didn’t expect things to be like this, because I am not a pessimist. But we are trying to keep the good vibes and positivity for each game, because it is the best way to keep us challenging for wins.”