By Saheed Afolabi
Nigeria playmaker Alex Iwobi has voiced his frustration following Fulham’s 3-2 defeat to West Ham in a dramatic London derby on Tuesday night at the London Stadium.
Despite scoring a brace in the encounter, Iwobi was dissatisfied with the result, citing avoidable mistakes that ultimately cost his team the match.
The Super Eagles midfielder, however, found solace in his individual performance and urged his teammates to keep their focus and not dwell on the loss.
“We’re all disappointed with the way we lost the game, just mistakes,” Iwobi said, as quoted by Fulham TV.
“Had we not made the mistakes, we would have won it. But then there’s a game around the corner, and so we cannot dwell on it. We dust ourselves off and go again.”
Iwobi also expressed bemusement over how the goalposts contributed to their defeat, denying Fulham on two occasions. “We created so many chances and hit the post twice, but if you don’t defend as a team, you get punished in the Premier League,” he remarked.
The Nigerian international has had an impressive season so far, scoring seven goals and providing three assists in 21 appearances.
Fulham currently holds 10th place in the Premier League standings with 30 points from 21 matches. They will look to bounce back when they face Leicester City in their next game on Friday, January 17.
Samuel Ahmadu is a distinguished multimedia journalist and women's football expert with over 15 years of experience in the industry. He began his career at Goal.com in February 2014, where he served as an African women's football correspondent for nearly eight years. During his tenure at Goal.com, Samuel covered major events such as three Women's Africa Cup of Nations (2016, 2018, 2022) and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada plus 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. His work at Goal.com earned him widespread acclaim, particularly for his in-depth profiles of African football stars, notably Asisat Oshoala, whose rise he documented from her early years to her breakthrough at the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup in 2014. Prior to his role at Goal.com, Samuel freelanced for various print and broadcast media outlets in Nigeria, including Graphics Newspaper, Radio Nigeria, Grace FM, and Savid Newspaper. His extensive experience and expertise led to his appointment to the Nigeria Football Federation's Standing Committee on Women's Football Development from 2016 to 2018. Since February 2018, Samuel has been the Social Media Manager for Nigeria's women's national teams.In 2019, Samuel joined the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as a women's football content contributor and was promoted to Women's Football Editor in 2021. His contributions to women's football continued as he worked as a Media Consultant for Content Creation and Editorials at the 2022 CAF Women's Champions League. Currently, Samuel also serves as the spokesman for the Nigeria Women Football League, further solidifying his influence and dedication to the growth of women's football in Africa.
