Brighton & Hove Albion striker Tomer Hemed was thrilled with his chance to give the Seagulls an important victory over fellow new boys Newcastle United yesterday.
The Israeli fired home the only goal of the game in the 50th minute to lift Brighton to a 1-0 victory.
Following the match, Hemed was equally happy for himself to score such a vital goal, saying “I'm happy that I scored the goal and it helped the team get the three points", while also praising his teammates, saying "From the other side, the defence did well and I think we all had a good game and deserved the win.
“We put our bodies on the line for the three points, and it gives us a push for the next few games.”
Hemed feels Seagulls enter upcoming run of fixtures with confidence
Following their second straight home win, Brighton will next visit Arsenal followed by games against Everton, West Ham United and Southampton.
Hemed feels the wins at home are crucial, stating “First of all, we need to win our home games, as we know it's more difficult to get points away from home" while admitting games away from the AMEX represent a new adventure: "This kind of game [Arsenal] is a new experience for us, and we'll try to do our best away from home. We'll work hard to do our best again.”
Possible ban for Sunday's match-winner
Late on, Hemed was allegedly caught standing on Magpies defender DeAndre Yedlin and a minute from time, a stamp took place. Hemed insists “it was by accident. I didn't try to do anything. If I hurt him then I'm sorry.”
This followed an earlier clash when Yedlin pushed the striker. Hemed also commented on that, stating “I just told him that if he cannot jump for the ball, why did he push me? You can try to take the ball but don't push me.”
The FA are reviewing the situation and a ban could see the Brighton number 10 miss the next three games.