Nicolò Zaniolo appeared to shush the travelling Aston Villa fans at West Ham on Sunday while Unai Emery said he hopes the Italy international will be more involved in the second part of the campaign.
Zaniolo silenced his critics on Sunday by scoring a late equaliser in a 1-1 Aston Villa draw against West Ham in London.
BirminghamLive confirms Zaniolo shushed the away fans behind the goal after scoring, but the Italy international also made his feelings clear in an Instagram post after the game.
Speaking to the BBC after the final whistle, Zaniolo said: “It was a very good match, in the first half, they were more aggressive, but we played well in the second half. Our team is very good. We competed well today and we have to fight. It will be very hard [the top four fight], but we are a very good team. We have a very good coach and we prepare very well.”
Why Aston Villa fans were unhappy with Zaniolo
Aston Villa fans have been criticising Zaniolo for a few months due to his poor performances on the pitch. They’ve been targeting the Italy international since the end of 2023 while the ex-Roma striker hasn’t started a Premier League match since December 13, when he was subbed off during the break in a 2-2 draw against Bournemouth. Last week, Zaniolo was criticised for his attitude after a 3-0 loss against Tottenham, especially in the build-up to Spurs’ third goal.
What Unai Emery said about Zaniolo
Zaniolo’s goal against West Ham keeps Aston Villa’s top-four hopes alive, and Emery hopes to see more of the same from the Italian striker in the second half of the season. “The players who were on the bench were focused. Nicolo is one of them. His impact was fantastic today, and hopefully, we can add him in this move for the rest of the season,” said the Spanish tactician, as quoted by BirminghamLive.
Zaniolo has been called up by Italy CT Luciano Spalletti for games against Venezuela and Ecuador in the USA. He has scored two goals in 17 appearances with the Azzurri.
LOL! There we go, you scored ONE goal, and you started feel like you are the special one again. It’s this kind of attitude guarantees that Zaniolo will always be an average player.