Ayew pleased to sign off for AFCON with victory

The Ghana international was once again a tireless runner for the Eagles in their 3-1 win over Saturday, assisting Michael Olise for the second time in four days to help his team on the way to victory.

Ayew is now set to head to the Ivory Coast with a view to featuring in his sixth Africa Cup of Nations; this year’s edition commences on Saturday, 13th January.

The forward will be looking to add to his 92 caps for his country and go one better than four-time winners Ghana’s best performance in recent years: runners-up in 2015.

“It was a big game for us,” Ayew said of Palace’s 3-1 win over Brentford. “We hadn’t won for two months and it was important to win.

“It was my last game before I’m off to the Africa Cup of Nations, and I wanted to go away with a win.

“Obviously it was the last game of the year [2023] as well, at home, so it was important to win and give the supporters something to cheer about.

“The win was massive; massive for our confidence, and for our belief as well. To end the year like that was perfect.”

The win capped a fine individual year for Ayew, who finished 2023 as the Premier League player with the most completed dribbles (84) in the calendar year.

This season alone, the No. 9 has scored twice, registered five assists, been named cinch Player of the Month for August and signed a new contract extension until 2025.

“It’s been a good year – ups and downs,” Ayew reflected. “I guess it’s normal because we have a young group and this type of thing happens, but we are improving and we have a good staff behind us, who are doing a good job.

“We were unlucky the last four games. Apart from the City game where it was a good performance and we got a draw, I think the rest of the games we could have won… today we were rewarded. We were the better team.

“When you keep on working and keep on pushing, you get rewarded, so I want to congratulate the boys, the team, the squad, the staff, and the medical team for this year as well, because they’ve been brilliant.”

As for 2024, Ayew revealed: “I don’t really set targets. Me, personally, I always want the team to play well and to win games, and if I can chip in, I’ll be very happy.

“The most important thing for me in the New Year is good health, my family to have good health and the whole team to have good health. After that, the rest is secondary.”