Michail Antonio’s most memorable West Ham strikes
By Louis Pye
Antonio v Tottenham – 27th April 2019
Now from the first game at London Stadium to West Ham’s first game at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium. Michail Antonio clearly likes to set his marker down and cement his place in the history of football stadia.
Heading into this London derby, Spurs had so far maintained a 100% record at their new home whilst not even conceding a single goal. But of course, one man had to have his say.
Michail Antonio’s most memorable West Ham strikes.
Midway into the second half, with Manuel Pellegrini’s men looking the more likely to score, Marko Arnautovic picked the ball up on the right-wing. The Austrian intelligently picked his head up and played a perfect ball for Antonio to run onto, expertly control with his chest, and fire past Hugo Lloris into the back of the goal to send the away end into jubilation.
But the best thing about his goal? His hip-thrusting celebration, metaphorically setting his marker on their new stadium and, not for the first or last time, breaking Tottenham hearts.
Antonio v Chelsea – 1st July 2020
After football had been put on hold thanks to COVID late into the season, the Premier League eventually resumed when the players would usually be away on their summer breaks.
West Ham returned with two losses in a row against Wolves and Tottenham, respectively, and up came a match against Chelsea that needed to be won if they were to survive relegation.
Having gone into the half-time break at 1-1, the Hammers came out of the blocks firing, and after a neat passage of play, Antonio was on hand to tap in to take a crucial lead for the home side.
Chelsea did manage to equalize, but the Irons managed to earn all three points via a last-minute winner from Andriy Yarmolenko, assisted by the one and only Antonio.
Perhaps just as importantly, Iron Mike’s goal in this particular game catapulted his form as he then managed to score seven more goals in his final six matches – including a four-goal haul at Norwich – to play a significant part in helping West Ham avoid the drop.