Following another man of the match performance, Tomas Soucek was once again a standout player for West Ham United as they beat Crystal Palace 3-2 in the Premier League.
Soucek headed home from close range from an Michail Antonio cross to level the scoring at Selhurst Park after Wilfred Zaha put the hosts ahead. Just before the half-time whistle, the Czech got his second of the game to put the Hammers ahead, before the break.
A Craig Dawson header in the second half put David Moyes' side further ahead as his team dominated in the London derby.
In the last kick of the game, Michy Batshuayi got a goal back for the hosts but it wasn't enough. Despite having 17 attempts on goal, West Ham walked away with only a 3-2 win, moving the Hammers up to 4th in the Premier League.
Moyes' best signing?
On the 29th January 2020, Soucek was Moyes' second signing since rejoining the West Ham management team.
In his first half season with the club, he featured 13 times for the Hammers, scoring three vital goals to help secure the East London club's safety in the league.
In his first full season, so far, the Czech has played every single minute in the league. In his 20 full appearances, the defensive-midfielder is the club's top goalscorer with seven goals, including his brace against Palace. His contribution is a big factor why West Ham have the most goals via set-pieces in the division (11).
Whilst Soucek has added an important attacking threat to the side, his flawless partnership with Declan Rice has helped West Ham keep seven clean sheets in the league, equalling their tally from last season.
Man of the Match Performance
In the BT Sport live broadcast of the Palace game, Karen Carney presented Soucek the Man of the Match award for his fantastic performance.
"I say every time that it doesn’t matter who scores, and I am very happy that I could help my team with the goals,” Soucek said to West Ham TV.
“This is a very important win. Today Mikey [Antonio} was very unlucky, he had maybe three chances. I scored today and I hope he will score a couple next time.
“We have a really good team, and we play like a team too, not individual players."
Czech Republic Duo
In the most recent summer transfer window, Soucek informed Moyes of his former teammate at SK Slavia Prague, Vladimir Coufal, who ended up signing and being a fantastic signing for the Hammers' defence.
Since their arrival, Soucek and Coufal seem to be fan favourites among the West Ham supporters whilst also impacting the squad in a very positive way.
The Sun reporter, Charlie Wyett, reported that the duo have played a huge part in changing the mindset at the Club, turning some players into workaholics.
The Czech Republic pair visit Rush Green every day to put in extra work, even if the rest of the squad are at home.
Both players' incredible attitude has rubbed off on Andriy Yarmolenko, who skips days off and joins them at the training ground. After sessions, Jarrod Bowen remains on the training pitch to practise free-kicks. Meanwhile, Aaron Cresswell spends extra time fine-tuning his crossing.