Bobby Zamora was delighted to get off the mark for Fulham on the opening day at Portsmouth and has revealed that his bizarre deflection on Clint Dempsey’s shot was the result of him trying to get out of the way of the ball.
Zamora endured a difficult first season at the Craven Cottage, scoring just four goals after a £4.8m move from West Ham. He was close to joining Hull in the summer but decided to stay with Fulham and the striker will hope that his opening goal of the season is the first of many in this campaign.
I just tried to get out of the way of Clint’s shot really! David James came close to making the save, but the deflection counted and it managed to creep inside the far post.
Personally, it’s nice to get off the mark, and for the team as well, it’s nice to start with a win.
Zamora earned praise afterwards from Roy Hodgson for his work ethic as defending from the front has been an important part of Fulham’s successful system.
We’re a hardworking team, we work for each other. I think if you ask Mokoena today, he’ll tell you he found it very hard to get on the ball with myself and AJ [Andy Johnson]. In front of him shielding and hassling. Between us we do our best to work hard up front to give the guys at the back more of a chance.
