August 24, (THEWILL) – It was a Monday game that Leicester City will want to forget in a hurry as West Ham’s Michail Antonio used the opportunity of a home tie to score a brace that made him West Ham’s all-time top goalscorer in the Premier League in a 4-0 triumph for David Moyes’ charges.
Antonio scored twice in four minutes in the closing stages of the hammering of the Foxes at London Stadium after registering an assist earlier on in the game of their Matchday two fixture for their second goal of the Monday night match.
The 31-year-old laid the pass for Said Benrahma to make it 2-0 after Pablo Fornals broke the deadlock prior to Ayoze Perez’s red card. Before Antonio’s goals came, Leicester’s Youri Tielemans scored a consolation goal for Leicester to soften the blow of the loss.
Just after the first of Antonio’s brace went in, Leicester’s manager Brendan Rodgers introduced Nigeria’s Super Eagles forward Kelechi Iheanacho in one of his double 81st minute substitutions. But, Iheanacho, with a record of having scored in every day of the week last season, was unable to cut the deficit in the brief time he was on.
Three minutes later, Antonio completed the trouncing to take his overall tally for the Hammers to 49, which is two more than previous leading scorer Paolo Di Canio, a club icon. His four goals in nine with three already this season makes him the player to have scored the most against Leicester in the top flight.
The striker had a unique way to celebrate his historic double. A life-size cardboard cut-out of himself was delivered to him in a pre-planned arrangement and he lifted it up and kissed it to cheers and ovations of a rapturous home crowd that were just as pleased to see him celebrate.
The result means that the Hammers are now on a four-game winning streak. It is their best Premier League run since winning five consecutive matches from January 14 to February 13, 2006 in the 2005/2006 campaign.
As the mood of celebration continues in London with West Ham immediately shooting past Chelsea to the top of the League, Wilfred Ndidi, Iheanacho and manager Brendan Rodgers will be taking the loss of the match into consideration while they look forward to a better result from their next game against newly promoted side Norwich.
For West Ham, who now look the part of a team capable of qualifying for next season’s Champions League, especially with Antonio on his current form, another home game against Crystal Palace is exactly the kind of fixture that can temper their enthusiasm while giving them confidence to continue their winning streak.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
