Antonio in dreamland
MICHAIL BRACE ON RETURN
MICHAIL Antonio scored twice on his return from injury to ensure West Ham’s Champions League dream could yet become reality.
Antonio’s double lifted David Moyes’ Hammers up to fifth and they are three points behind Chelsea and the top four.
The West Ham striker missed the past three games, including the back-to-back losses to Newcastle and Chelsea, with a hamstring problem, and he returned with a bang with two goals inside eight minutes.
Antonio, and the three behind him of
Pablo Fornals, Jesse Lingard and Said Benrahma, dazzled with their graft and craft.
West Ham displayed real attacking intent and Lanzini went close with a rightfoot curler before they blundered at the back to give away a penalty from Burnley’s first attack.
Tomas Soucek clattered Chris Wood after the Clarets striker showed great determination to beat Issa Diop to the ball and hook it back over the French defender. The in-form Wood duly dispatched the spot-kick on 18 minutes to chalk up his 11th goal of the season.
West Ham equalised three minutes later. Fornals dispossessed Dwight McNeil and fed Lingard who teed upVladimir Coufal on the right to cross for Antonio to head home.
The Hammers were rampant and in the 29th minute the excellent Benrahma whipped in a beautiful ball across the face of goal for Antonio to touch it home. Antonio might have had a hattrick and he denied himself when his right-foot shot hit his standing leg before he shot wide.
BURNLEY (4-4-2): Pope 6; Lowton 5, Tarkowski 6, Mee 6, Taylor 5; Brownhill 7, Westwood 6, Cork 6, McNeil 5 (Gudmundsson 74, 6); Vydra 6 (Rodriguez 61, 6), Wood 7.
Goal: Wood pen 18
WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Fabianski 6; Coufal 7, Diop 5,
Dawson 6, Cresswell 6; Soucek 6, Lanzini 7; Fornals
7, Lingard 7, Benrahma 8 (Bowen 78, 6); Antonio 8.
Goals: Antonio 21, 29