Downing Delighted With Winning Goal

Stewart Downing has said that he was delighted to get the winning goal in the clash against Burnley.

Speaking on the Official Site after having a well earnt sleep for our extra time excursions, Stewart Downing was delighted with his winning goal and the fact that the team battled on to pass through to the next round of the Carling Cup.

‘I was delighted with the goal, and the timing of it too. It was a frustrating night for long periods, we missed a few chances and I thought it was going to be one of those nights where penalties decided it.’

I doubt he was alone in those thoughts, we should’ve wrapped the game up in the first half and could’ve easily found ourselves behind in the second had it not been for valiant defending and a thoroughly fantastic performance from Brad Friedel.

‘My goal coming when it did was good timing and I was pleased to score. I just thought on the edge of the box the ball could do anything, even take a deflection, I just thought it was worth having a go.’

Downing also wanted to go on the record to praise the performance and fighting spirit of Burnley.

‘It exploded into life in the second half, they made it difficult, they passed the ball well and they’re a good team. They didn’t lump it.’

Burnley can certainly take a lot of credit from their performance and to be fair so can we, given the youngsters there and the spirit we showed, even though it certainly won’t go down as a classic performance, it was definitely an old school Cup classic.

Vital Villa on:

Vital Villa on: