West Ham forward Andriy Yarmolenko made an emotional return to action against Aston Villa at the London Stadium.
The 32-year-old came on as a second-half substitute with the scoreline at 0-0 before breaking the deadlock 18 minutes later.
David Moyes’ side doubled their advantage through Pablo Fornals before a late Jacob Ramsey strike acted as a consolation for Aston Villa
Taking to Twitter following the win, former England international Gary Lineker praised the fortitude of the Ukrainian forward.
A win for @WestHam and a goal for Andriy Yarmolenko. How he manages to focus and play, let alone come on and score is beyond me. Ukrainians are incredible. 🇺🇦
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) March 13, 2022
This was the 106 times capped ace’s second goal of the season to add to three assists in 26 appearances across all competitions.
READ WEST HAM VERDICT
What a wonderfully poignant moment.
Scriptwriters could barely have imagined it as Yarmolenko made the perfect return from compassionate leave.
Not only was this a goal for all the right reasons in terms of eaning, but it was also one of high quality and with a big impact on the outcome of the match.
Having replaced a stricken Michail Antonio, the £3.15million valued forward could be asked to lead the line in midweek against Sevilla.
