‘For a striker scoring is the best thing’: Timo Werner admits ending his goal drought with West ham winner has made him the happiest that he’s been for months
- Chelsea beat West Ham 1-0 in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon
- Timo Werner scored the only goal of the game shortly before half-time
- It was his first goal in over two months and second in five months in the league
Timo Werner trades in goals and he knows they are the measure of a striker.
When he scored 34 for RB Leipzig last season it triggered a £48million transfer scramble. There were 19 for his club in the season before that, and 21 in each of the first two years after joining from Stuttgart.
This first campaign at Chelsea has, he admits, been tough. And to claim the only goal in a crucial victory at West Ham came as a huge relief, as it put Chelsea in the box seat in the top-four race.
Timo Werner scored the winning goal in Chelsea’s 1-0 victory over West Ham on Saturday
‘It’s been a while,’ said Werner. ‘A bit different to last season and that’s hard. Over the weeks I accepted it and tried to help the team with other things, to assist. But I’m a striker, and the best thing is to score.’
It was Werner’s first goal for more than two months and only his second in five months in the league.
‘It is difficult to keep the faith,’ he said. ‘But not so hard because we were winning. We are in the Champions League semi-final, in the FA Cup final and I made some important assists to help us through.
‘It’s a team effort. But for a striker scoring is the best thing. It has been a much happier weekend for me than in the last few months.’
The striker ended his goal drought with a finish shortly before half-time at London Stadium
Werner was quick to concede he should have scored twice at West Ham — he dragged a glorious chance wide after Lukasz Fabianski parried a shot by Mason Mount — and yet he goes into a Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid with the wait over and a weight lifted from his shoulders.
‘We all want to reach the final,’ said the 25-year-old, although his side will have to play the first leg without former Real player Mateo Kovacic who is out with injury.
‘To win it is the dream of every kid. The Champions League is the most difficult cup in the world to win. When you have the chance you have to go for it. We are not here due to luck. We are here because we work hard.’
On a personal level, Werner has unfinished business in the competition. He left Leipzig for Chelsea during last year’s lockdown and missed out as the Bundesliga team reached the last four, where they lost to Paris Saint-Germain.
‘I had a lot of criticism for that in Germany,’ he said. ‘Now I reach it with my new club. That’s a good thing for me to show I can do it with two teams in two years. It makes me proud and more hungry to make it to the final this year.’
The German forward admits that the goal made it his happiest weekend in months
As for West Ham, David Moyes is refusing to give up on his own Champions League dream.
‘We’ve got to keep going,’ he said. ‘We want to be in the mix for European football and we’ve got so close. We’re a month from the end of the season so why would we not try? Hopefully we can start to get some players back.
‘It is going to go right to the end. We’ve earned it because of the way we’ve played. I don’t see any reason why that should change.’
West Ham are three points adrift of the top four but have no games left against teams above them in the league. Chelsea, meanwhile, must take on Manchester City and Leicester while competing in the Champions League and FA Cup.
On the sending off of Fabian Balbuena, which West Ham are expected to appeal, Moyes added: ‘If there’s going to be no contact, then it’s going to be no fun. The sport is going to be poor and the referees are the people who can change it, by not giving easy fouls.’