Al Hajj reacts to maiden Argyle goal
At 8pm on Friday night, Rami Al Hajj heard the whistle sound on his first Argyle start. By 8.08pm, he had his first goal for the club.
By 10pm, the Pilgrims had beaten Luton Town 3-1, and the perfect night for Rami had been completed. His early goal had been complemented by two from Ibrahim Cissoko, and Argyle had their second successive home win.
Yet another Home Park full house, in full voice under the floodlights, roared home Wayne Rooney’s team, as they played attacking football in a fast-tempo encounter with a Luton side who were relegated from the Premier League last season.
“It was a great start, both individually and for the team,” said Rami. “In this type of game that could have gone both ways, for the confidence for the whole stadium to give us that push in the beginning, it was great.
“You look forward to every home game when it's like this. It was exciting. I think we have to work on not giving away that many chances. It was an entertaining game, but we have to look back at it and work on the things we have to work on.”
Al Hajj and Cissoko are two arrivals from the most recent transfer window, and both have captured the imagination of the Green Army. Cissoko, a Dutchman on loan from French club Toulouse, came off the bench to score two delightful goals, and has impressed Al Hajj, a permanent acquisition from Odense, in their time together so far.
“What a player!” said Rami, of Cissoko. “I think his actions and goals speak for themselves, so I don't have to say that much. Amazing player.
“It's nice [playing with him] especially when we have that connection on the training field so far. We are the same type of players. We both want to play, beat our man and enjoy playing football. Once we keep on working and making that connection stronger, it will be nice to play games with him.”
On his goal, Rami said: “[Michael Obafemi] cut inside, and gave it to [Ryan] Hardie. Hardie laid off to me, I saw the space and I finished.
“It came back pretty quick. He had to lay it off a bit hard because there were many people around so otherwise, they would break the pass.
“At first, I wanted to go to the far corner, but it came a bit under me and the space was there on the first post, so I just went for it.”
Signed for a significant sum on deadline day, the arrival of Al Hajj understandably excited the Argyle faithful, and they have been eager to see him in action. Until the Luton game, his contributions had been in the final stages from the bench, but the time was right, according to Head Coach Wayne Rooney, to give Rami an hour or so from the start.
“I haven't played that much yet this season, so to get these minutes, it's good,” Al Hajj said. “I train with the team, but playing a game is different, so it's a good feeling to get these minutes and to work myself into the team.
“I was not really expecting to play a full game. In the half-time we were seeing how I was feeling and [bringing me off on 60 minutes] was a logical thing to do because they have been doing it well with me, working me into it step-by-step and not really pushing or throwing me into a 90-minute game. The process has been good so far, so hopefully we can keep on building on that.
“[English football is] more up and down, a lot of spaces, a lot of duels. The intensity is a bit higher, but I'm feeling good so far. I like it.”
