{"id":297212,"date":"2023-12-17T19:24:25","date_gmt":"2023-12-17T19:24:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/?p=297212"},"modified":"2023-12-17T19:24:25","modified_gmt":"2023-12-17T19:24:25","slug":"mohammed-kudus-will-be-huge-miss-during-africa-cup-of-nations-david-moyes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/soccer\/mohammed-kudus-will-be-huge-miss-during-africa-cup-of-nations-david-moyes\/","title":{"rendered":"Mohammed Kudus will be \u2018huge miss\u2019 during Africa Cup of Nations \u2013 David Moyes"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
David Moyes paid tribute to West Ham\u2019s two-goal hero Mohammed Kudus after their 3-0 win over Wolves and admitted his upcoming absence will be \u201ca huge blow\u201d.<\/p>\n
Kudus will link up with Ghana for the Africa Cup of Nations next month and could miss up to nine matches if the Hammers continue to progress in both domestic cup competitions.<\/p>\n
The \u00a338million summer recruit took his goal tally for West Ham to nine with a classy first-half brace that set the hosts on their way to a comprehensive seventh victory from their last nine games.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the radio (journalists) said, \u2018How hard is Kudus working, how hard defensively is he doing the work,\u2019 and I have to say Kudus is doing all the work for us as well,\u201d Moyes said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA really good boy to work with and obviously his goals and assists are really the things that are standing out.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a huge blow (to lose him) because he scores goals and makes goals. We\u2019re going to have to find other ways.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to say, we will hugely miss him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kudus rifled home from 25 yards with his left foot in the 22nd minute after collecting Lucas Paqueta\u2019s pass following a Wolves corner before he doubled his tally 10 minutes later.<\/p>\n
Another counter-attack saw Paqueta\u2019s through-ball left by Jarrod Bowen and Kudus collected the pass before he raced into the area and side-footed into the corner.<\/p>\n
Bowen wrapped up the result with a smart low finish in the 74th minute to move into double figures for the season, but Wolves were left to rue Pablo Sarabia\u2019s 58th-minute effort being ruled out.<\/p>\n
A slick team move ended with Nelson Semedo finding Sarabia for a simple tap-in. However, VAR Jarred Gillett eventually decided the visiting attacker had been marginally offside following a three-minute check.<\/p>\n
Moyes said: \u201cA marginal VAR decision went in our favour and this is what happens in the Premier League. It could have turned in Wolves favour.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had started the second half much better and we didn\u2019t, but that decision went for us and from that we got another counter-attack moment and were able to punish them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wolves boss Gary O\u2019Neil cut a frustrated figure throughout the 3-0 loss and, while he had little complaint over the decision to rule out Sarabia\u2019s effort, he did express his bemusement at some of Vladimir Coufal\u2019s challenges.<\/p>\n
Coufal caught Jean-Ricner Bellegarde with a blow to the face at the end of the first half but avoided a yellow card before he did eventually get cautioned late on for a poor tackle on the same player.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Neil said: \u201cOver the course of the game, I think his (Coufal) challenges warrant two yellows at least.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the fact he wasn\u2019t even booked for the one in the first half was strange.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to complain about the officials or VAR because it seemed all fine and it\u2019s not what I\u2019m here to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust disappointed the goal is deemed fractionally offside. Hard to tell and obviously we have to trust the fact the lines are correct, even though I will be pleased when they bring in the (semi) automated ones.<\/p>\n
\u201cLive it looked maybe just about offside, but disappointing because it was a big moment and a fantastic move.\u201d<\/p>\n