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EPL: Michail Antonio hits brace as West Ham thrash 10-man Leicester

By Our Reporter On Aug 23, 2021 0

Michail Antonio netted a brace to surpass Paolo Di Canio as West Ham’s Premier League all time top goalscorer as they thumped Leicester 4-1 at the London Stadium.

West Ham set out with a plan to press high and counter attack. They simply didn’t give Leicester a moment’s peace and ran away with the match in the end.

Youri Tielemans’ passing was uncharacteristically erratic, James Maddison couldn’t influence play and Jamie Vardy was a passenger for long spells.

The Hammers broke the deadlock after 26 minutes in the way they’d been threatening, on the break. Pablo Fornals fed Said Benrahma on the left, and he timed his cross perfectly for the Spaniard to meet after breaking into the box.

Chances for a second came and went when Tomas Soucek and Craig Dawson failed to guide headers on target.

Five minutes before half time, the game swung further in the hosts’ favour. Fornals looked to press Perez as he met a short goal kick from Kasper Schmeichel, but the Leicester forward caught him with his studs as he came away with the ball.

On the advice of VAR, referee Michael Oliver reviewed the incident on the pitchside monitor and instantly flashed the red card in Perez’s direction. The collective grimace in the stands when the incident was relayed on the big screen was telling.

Antonio should have doubled West Ham’s lead six minutes after the break, but his header was stopped brilliantly by Schmeichel.

Moments later, the hosts got their cushion, and it came via a gift from Caglar Soyuncu. Seemingly under no pressure at all, he played a blind pass back to Schmeichel, which Antonio latched on to. The striker stayed calm to pick out Benrahma, who passed the ball into the net.

David Moyes’ men were beginning to enjoy themselves as they swarmed forward looking to secure the victory. Antonio drew another good save from Schmeichel, this time from distance.

But Leicester found a route back into the game out of nothing on 69 minutes. Maddison darted forward from the left and crossed for Tielenans to stab home, halving the decifit.

West Ham weren’t shaken, though, and 10 minutes from time, the moment everyone in the home end was waiting for arrived. Antonio swivelled in the area and powered a shot into the far corner, breaking Di Canio’s record and giving Schmeichel no chance.

There was still time for Antonio to add his second and West Ham’s fourth with two minutes of normal time remaining.