Ayari: This has been my best season so far

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Nick Szczepanik

2025-05-21T05:00+01:00

Yankuba Minteh is first to congratulate Yasin Ayari after his equaliser against Liverpool. 📷 James Boardman.

Yasin Ayari paid tribute to teammate Brajan Gruda after the 3-2 victory over Liverpool that keeps Albion in the hunt for a European place.

It was Gruda’s first-time lofted pass that gave Ayari the chance to roll his second Premier League goal past Reds and Brazil goalkeeper Alisson Becker after 32 minutes to make the score 1-1.

“That’s my guy,” Ayari said of the Germany under-21 attacker. “I know how hard he works every day to try to come into the team and play as well as possible and I know he has unbelievable qualities. On Monday he showed a little bit of them and I know he can show even more so I’m happy for him.

“He always wants to play, especially when he has the qualities that he has. So I can imagine he’s frustrated because he hasn’t played as much as he wanted but when he got some chances he showed what a good player he is and hopefully he can get some more.

“We have a good squad so when somebody is in a difficult spot we always try to help them. Then in the end you need to dig deep and train as hard as possible to show the manager that you want to play.”

The move, which began with Adam Webster playing the ball forward for Danny Welbeck to touch back to Gruda, looked off-the-cuff but had actually been crafted on the training ground.

“We train a lot on that one, on the counter-movements for me to run in the pocket,” Ayari said. “I think this goal was much more difficult than the other one I scored against West Ham so it was nice to see the ball go in.”

The finish, rolled past Alisson’s right hand and just inside the post, was very different from his 25-yard rocket against the Hammers.

“I just put it in the corner with the inside of my foot,” he added. “But I’ve always known how to score goals, I know I have an eye for goal. I just need to come in those positions.”

Liverpool re-took the lead against the run of play late in the first half but Albion regrouped during the interval and levelled through Kaoru Mitoma.

“We conceded one minute before half time so we were disappointed of course but we knew we had created a lot and we knew where to hurt them," added Ayari. "So we said we needed to go out and keep doing what we had been doing and improve just some bits and I think we did it.”

Ayari came off with the score at 2-2 and agreed that the final stages were nerve-racking when seen from the bench. “I hate watching games from the sideline,” he said. “It was hectic in the final minutes but in the end Jack managed to get the goal to win us the game so I was happy.”

The game was Ayari’s 21st start in a total of 33 appearances in his first full Premier League campaign after spending last season on loan at Coventry City and Blackburn Rovers.

He said, “I knew that as soon as I got my minutes, as soon as I got my rhythm going, I knew that I will perform. This season has been my best season in professional football. I had just come from Sweden and had a difficult season last year but this season is much better.”