Celtic summer departure gets off the mark at new club as comeback inspired in 'crazy' six-goal thriller
Former Hoops star inspired EFL Championship comeback on bonkers evening
Celtic summer departure Arne Engels scored his first goal for new club West Ham in dramatic circumstances as they came from 3-0 down to draw with Cardiff City in the EFL Championship.
The 23-year old midfielder completed his transfer from Parkhead to the London Stadium in August for an EFL Championship record-breaking fee of £22m. After 15 games in all competitions for the East London side, the Belgian is now finally off the mark.
The match at the Cardiff City Stadium marked the first for new Hammers gaffer Scott Parker, who was appointed during the week following the dismissal of Nuno Espirito Santo. The visitors got off to the worst possible start in Wales - but managed to salvage a point in an encounter Engels subsequently described as ‘crazy’.
Engels off the mark for West Ham in six-goal thriller
A new manager bounce looked unattainable at half time when they went three goals down through a hat-trick from Cardiff midfielder Jack Moylan. The Hammers had slumped to eighth in the table, having failed to win four of their last six in the league - and looked destined for another defeat before a second half comeback.
Striker Divin Mukasa pinched a goal back after the break before Engels got the second. Parker decided to play the former Celtic man higher up in an attacking midfield role, which paid off as he bombed forward, got on the end of a flick-on from striker Joel Piroe and finished well with his weaker left foot. Defender Max Kilman then completed the comeback as he got on the end of a wicked cross from talisman Jarrod Bowen.
The result means West Ham remain eighth in the standings, which would see them into the play-offs come May. However, having just been relegated from the Premier League, the aim for Parker, Engels and co now will be to make their way back into the automatic promotion places.
What was Engels’ reaction to a ‘crazy’ night?
The Belgian was involved in plenty of dramatic moments last season for the Hoops, scoring in both the Scottish Cup final and Premiership league decider against Hearts. In another ‘crazy’ encounter, this time south of the border, he claimed the new gaffer’s words at half time spurred them on.
Engels said: "It was a crazy game today. A bit of a shaky start, but I think the team showed great mentality in the second half. I think we can really build from there. Of course, what happened in the first half cannot happen, but like I said, the reaction was really good.
"At half-time we were 3-0 down, so everybody was pretty angry. Also [the Gaffer], he was really angry. But everybody just reflected on themselves, looked in the mirror and we said to each other, we cannot lose this game anymore because we always start really slow, but we showed really great mentality and that's what we needed to do in the second half."