CHRISTIAN Saydee laughed and admitted “I have never scored a goal like that,” after his last-gasp equaliser against Arsenal on Wednesday: “But they all count!”

The 19-year-old Cherries forward capitalised on a lapse of concentration from Arsenal’s goalkeeper following an injury, racing in to snatch the ball from his feet while he thought it was a dead-ball situation and tap home to seal a Premier League Cup point.

It was a just reward for Saydee’s tireless effort throughout, but also raised tensions and prompted a 20-man skirmish to break out following a heavy tackle on the final whistle.

The result follows a 2-0 loss for the Cherries under-21s at group leaders West Brom in the first game of the 2021-22 competition.

Speaking after earning his side a draw, Saydee told the Daily Echo: “I feel like the boys dug deep, I feel like we learnt a lot from the previous games.

“West Brom before we could have got more out of it, the last two or three weeks we have been really working hard, pressing in training, we showed everything on the pitch and got a good point.

“It’s difficult, especially them scoring early in the game when we were, in my opinion, all over them, so when we did keep digging deep we eventually got what we deserve, got the point.”

On his bizarre goal, he joked: “No I have never scored a goal like that but they all count!

“I don’t even know what happened, he just put the ball down and Euan (Pollock) has given me the shout, ‘Chris go’ – I’ve just gone and hoped for the best, tapped it in.”

Saydee is buoyed this season by an extended spell with the first team at the start of the campaign, in which Scott Parker gave him his debut and opportunity to score a maiden senior Cherries goal in an EFL Cup against MK Dons.

He continued: “Training there and playing games with them has really developed my game, I’m the type of player that likes to use my strength and I feel like I’ve learnt a lot playing there trying to work on my movement, trying to be that different type of striker, not always predictable.

“It has pushed my game on a lot. 100%, it was my first game I was there so I couldn’t be happier playing with them and I want to be there again.”