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Sport

22nd Feb 2017

Premier League flop scores wondergoal as Valencia catch Real Madrid cold

Do not adjust your TV set, Hammers

Ben Kiely

As impossible as it may be for West Ham fans to believe, Simone Zaza is banging in the goals.

The Italian striker, who made a fool out of himself at Euro 2016, had an abysmal time in his brief stint in the Premier League.

He didn’t manage to score for West Ham, but did score *against* them during a pre-season friendly against Juventus. He then failed to find the net in 11 appearances before his loan move was cut short and he was shipped off to Valencia on another loan spell.

If the Hammers were shocked by Zaza finally hitting the back of the net at the weekend, they’re going to lose their minds over the superb effort he scored against Real Madrid on Wednesday night.

Four minutes into the game, he picked up the ball inside the box after being found by a well-struck cross from the right wing. Under pressure from Raphael Varane, he controlled the ball with his left foot, swiveled and absolutely rifled home a half-volley into the top corner.

That makes it two goals in two games for the forward.

Valencia kept that momentum going as they made it 2-0 to the good just nine minutes into the match. Fabián Orellana got the game’s second by sneakily slotting the ball through Keylor Navas’ legs, though Cristiano Ronaldo pulled one back on the stroke of half-time.