Aaron Cresswell hailed West Ham United’s devastating attackers and the return of capacity crowds to the Premier League after a memorable opening day victory at Newcastle United.
St James’ Park was rocking in the rain at kick-off and the home fans turned up the volume even higher when first Callum Wilson and then Jacob Murphy put the hosts into a 2-1 half-time lead.
However, Cresswell’s first-half equaliser and then second-half goals from Saïd Benrahma, Tomáš Souček and Michail Antonio ultimately had the Claret and Blue Army making all the noise high up in the Leazes Stand.
And speaking to West Ham TV after netting for the first time in 58 Premier League appearances dating back to a win at Chelsea in November 2019, the left-back was naturally delighted to get off the mark, both individually and collectively.
It was great to see fans back and certainly the 3,000 of ours sat up there in the skies created a fantastic atmosphere
Aaron Cresswell
“It was great to see fans back and certainly the 3,000 of ours sat up there in the skies created a fantastic atmosphere,” he began. “It was a great day and a great performance from the lads.
“We’ve kind of picked up where we left off last season and to be fair the atmosphere today was really tough going into it. They scored early on but the team spirit we’ve got amongst us shone through and it was a great performance with some unbelievable attacking play.”
That attacking play, particularly on the counter-attack, saw West Ham repeatedly rip through the Newcastle defence, with Antonio, Benrahma, Jarrod Bowen, Pablo Fornals, Declan Rice, Souček and full-backs Cresswell and Vladimir Coufal creating chance after chance.
By the game’s end, West Ham had tallied 18 goal attempts, nine of which were on target, and scored four goals away from home in the Premier League for the first time since doing so at Norwich City in July 2020.
“We know as soon as we get the ball, when we win it back we counter-attack and some of the play from the boys was fantastic and Michail’s goal summed us up and really showed what we’re about,” the No3 observed.
“On another day we could have scored more goals, but 4-2 in the first game of the season, happy days!”
When informed that Souček was claiming the Hammers’ first-half goal that was officially credited to Cresswell, the England international could only laugh.
“No, did he really? He definitely didn’t get a touch on it!” he smiled. “We just looked at it back. Look, I don’t score many, so the goal was a great bonus, but the main thing was the three points today.
“Our team performance was fantastic and what a way to start the season.”
Cresswell was also praised by manager David Moyes for taking on a leadership role on the pitch and in the dressing room alongside captain Declan Rice, and the 31-year-old agreed that he wants to make his experience and influence count.
“I’m not getting any younger now and this is my eighth season and I’ve played a lot of games for West Ham,” he confirmed. “Myself, Daws and Angelo at the back have certainly been around for a long time in this league and if we can help in any way, we can.
“Dec is still only 22 and the way he leads and the way he plays, it’s fantastic to see. I saw Dec when he came onto the scene at 16 and what a player he’s turning out to be and I think he’s still got a lot more in his locker.
“We’ve got a fantastic team at the minute and great team spirit, so let’s keep it going.”
