Kurt Zouma led a swarm of messages to Declan Rice on Instagram after the West Ham United midfield scored a great solo goal to help beat Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League.
Rice marked his 150th career appearance for the Hammers by doubling the Irons’ lead at Stadion Maksimir. Michail Antonio had broken the deadlock midway through the first-half to get West Ham’s debut in the Europa League Group Stage off to the perfect start.
Antonio seized on Kevin Theophile-Catherine’s backpass in a flash before rounding Dominik Livakovic to score into an empty net. West Ham kept their composure and structure with no inexperience on show, before Rice delighted the travelling fans.
Rice snatched possession in West Ham territory and surged up the Dinamo Zagreb pitch, waiting for support that never came. Instead, he shrugged off Bruno Petkovic’s challenge and drilled a shot under Dominik Livakovic for his sixth career senior goal.
Thursday’s encounter was Rice’s first experience of domestic European football, but the 22-year-old never looked out of place against Dinamo. Taking control of the centre of the pitch with Tomas Soucek and moving the ball well to stay in control.
Rice displayed every inch of why he is a 26-cap England international against Dinamo on West Ham’s return to Europe. Also showing why the £60k-a-week star has only missed 10 of the Hammers’ last 126 Premier League fixtures, starting each of those 116 appearances.
Rice thrills Zouma on dream night for West Ham vs Dinamo Zagreb
Rice thrilled many players, including new £30m teammate Zouma, on a dream night for West Ham against Dinamo Zagreb. Stars flooded the midfielder’s Instagram with replies in response to his showcase display at Stadion Maksimir on Thursday.
Rice posted ‘150th appearance and a goal. Not a bad evening’, to which Zouma responded: ‘What a player’. Bobby Zamora and ex-West Ham teammate Joe Hart also replied with fire emojis, while Leeds’ Kalvin Phillips shared adoring smiles.
Another former Hammer, Jimmy Bullard, additionally replied, simply sharing ‘Get in!’. While Carlton Cole called Rice ‘King’ and Nathan Trott dubbed the West Ham star the greatest of all time.
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