Michail Antonio scored a brace in West Ham United's 4-1 win over Leicester City on Monday to break Di Canio's long standing record as the club's top Premier League goal scorer.
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Michail Antonio became West Ham United’s all time Premier League top scorer as he netted a brace in the 4-1 win against Leicester City on Monday. The 31-year-old striker scored his first goal in the 80th minute, it was a close range shot on the turn. The strike took him past Paolo Di Canio’s previous record mark of 47 and the Englishman celebrated by running to the sideline raising aloft a cardboard cut-out of himself. Four minutes later he prodded home his second of the night to take his Premier League tally to 49 for the Hammers.
West Ham had a sensational night in front of a capacity crowd of 60,000 at the London stadium. Pablo Fornals started the scoring for the home side mid-way through the first half before Leicester midfielder Ayoze Perez was sent off for a stamp on Fornals before the break. David Moyes’ side extended the lead through Said Benrahma in the second half after an awful back pass from Caglar Soyuncu fell to Antonio inside the box. The Englishman laid the ball to the Algerian for a simple close-range finish.
10 minutes from time, Antonio collected Declan Rice’ low cross inside the box, showed his physical prowess to hold off Soyuncu and slotted the ball past Kasper Schmeichel on the turn. Few minutes later, his first touch from right-back Vladimir Coufal’s cross took the ball away from his marker and then he scored the brace with his second touch.
His double on Monday took him to three goals from two games and into the top of the Premier League goal scoring charts.
When asked if he can stay top in the race for the Golden Boot, Antonio, with his smile beaming out, replied: “Obviously! And I’m going to put a big distance between us so no-one can catch me!”
And what was the thinking behind the celebration?
He said: “I thought, I’m making history, I’ve got to do something special. Did any of you get what celebration it was?
“It was an amazing night. The fans enjoyed it, we enjoyed it. There’s nothing better than scoring a goal and hearing a roar from the fans.”
The striker admitted that Di Canio’s record was playing in his mind as he wasn’t in the best frame of mind in the first 45 minutes.
West Ham boss noticed that and said that he was unhappy with the striker’s performance in the first half but he was simply unplayable after the break.
The former Manchester United boss said: “I didn’t think he’d made the right choices with the ball in the first half a few times, but he was a different class after half-time, with his link-up play and positioning.
“His goals are typical Mich. He can score so many. I didn’t think he made the right choices in the first half but in the second half he was different class.
“He’s only been at centre-forward for the last 18 months or two years. He’s gone on from there and he’s looking a real handful. His all-round play has improved so much.”
Meanwhile, the impressive victory took West Ham to the top of the Premier League table. The Hammers have started a top-flight season with two consecutive wins for the first time since 1997. They have scored eight goals so far, having beaten Newcastle 4-2 last weekend.
Moyes’ side had an impressive Premier League season in the last campaign, finishing in the sixth spot, just two points behind fourth-placed Chelsea.
