Derek Asamoah on a night to remember at Anfield
Striker Derek Asamoah spoke to us about a superb team performance and a personal high point as he looked back at the goal he bagged in front of the Anfield Kop on Wednesday night.
“It was a brilliant night for everyone involved with the club,” he said. “Everyone thought we would get played off the park and be on the end of a bad scoreline, but we dug in and stuck together.
“We defended as a team and we got our rewards. We managed to draw a game against Liverpool, one of the biggest sides in the country, and not many people would have expected that.”
“You can see the unity we've got in the dressing room,” he told us. “We fought for every ball together and we worked hard right across the team.
“Everyone is a bit disappointed in the dressing room but we gave it our best and that's all you can ask for.”
On the first half equaliser which stunned the home crowd into silence, he said; “As soon as Joycey [Luke Joyce] picked the ball up I started running because I knew I could do them for pace.
“Bastien [Hery] played a lovely ball through to me and I knew I just had to keep it low and hit it as hard as possible. As soon as I saw it hit the back of the net I was excited. To score in front of that stand with the history it has was amazing. After I scored they were so quiet I couldn't believe it. It was a great moment for me, my family and for the club as well.
“I hadn’t practiced the celebration with Bastien but we did talk about it when we got to the ground. I said to him, and these were my actual words - when I score I'm going to do a somersault and then pretend to shoot you. He wanted to do it as well so that's how that came about!”
The United hero was replaced by Newcastle youngster Alex Gilliead on 64 minutes and he admitted that it wasn’t easy to watch the rest of the game from the dug out.
“Even though I'd been subbed I felt like I was still on the pitch during extra time because I was up and down and cheering the boys on,” he explained. “I'm so proud of the effort and the work they all put in.
“The important thing now is to take this into the league games we have coming up. We've done ourselves proud tonight and we need to take the hard work and unity into the Newport game so we make sure we get a result.”
And he left his final words for the fans.
“The supporters behind the goal were unreal,” he told us. “They were making more noise than the Liverpool fans and I'm so happy that we made them sing like we did.
“I hope they were entertained and they're proud of us because we are certainly proud of the effort and the noise they made when they turned up. Their support was amazing, so we have to say thanks to them.”
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