Nottingham Forest star Ola Aina provided a humble response to scoring a wonder-strike in his side’s 3-0 Premier League victory over West Ham on Saturday. Sipping on a carton of Ribena during his post-match media duties, the right-back admitted that he was too tired to continue running so unleashed a left-footed piledriver.
Aina scored the third goal in another excellent win for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team. Chris Wood had opened the scoring against the hugely disappointing Hammers before Callum Hudson-Odoi struck in the second half.
Forest piled the misery on West Ham, who had Edson Alvarez sent off for a second booking on the stroke of half time. The highlight of the match was Aina’s thumping strike.
The former Chelsea prospect won possession high up the pitch on the right wing. The ball broke loose as Aina moved inside and, on his weaker left foot, he crashed his effort into the top corner.
Aina was interviewed by Australian broadcaster Optus Sport after the game. The interviewer joked that she was unaware the 28-year-old was capable of scoring such a goal. “Sometimes it just comes out, do you know what I mean?” Aina, who was sipping on Ribena, quipped in response.
“I like to surprise everyone. It bounced up right and I was knackered anyway, so I thought, ‘I might as well hit it’.”
Asked if he expected the ball to find the top corner, Aina joked: “Something like that, yeah!”
Forest are up to third in the Premier League after a remarkable start to the season. They have won five of their 10 Premier League matches so far, losing only once.
Aina said: “It is [impressive]. I think it’s just we’re taking every game as it comes and we’re just working hard. That’s the formula for us – just work hard and take every game as it comes. Come the end of May, we’ll see where we’re at.”
Forest boss Nuno added: “You know me already. Now I’m thinking about Tuesday and the next training session. This is what is important, you know better than me, it doesn’t mean anything now.
“We just have to keep going, keep going, keep going. It’s a very long season ahead, every player is going to be needed. It is a positive moment. We worked very hard this week, this is what we are focused on. We have to work and work hard and improve much more.”
