BACK SWIM In the
Antonio hits the winner on return for Hammers
AMID the focus on footballers and their celebrations, along comes Michail Antonio and his backstroke. The returning West Ham striker scored, swam and showed why his club have missed him so.
Since his last Premier League start in November, they tried to make do with Sebastien Haller but his audition was so sub-standard he now plays for Ajax in Holland.
West Ham could do with signing a striker in this window, in case Antonio breaks down again, but the 30- year- old really is something when fit. Someone just ought to remind him the Olympic Park’s Aquatics Centre is actually over the road from the London Stadium.
Antonio’s early winner — courtesy of a Pablo Fornals cross which Burnley’s centre backs failed to clear — keeps West Ham on the edge of the European places. Talk will turn to the possibility of that if they continue at this rate, with them losing only one of their last seven league games.
‘Avoiding relegation last year will always go down as one of the biggest t hings I’ ve done because we were in a really difficult position,’ manager David Moyes said after a third straight win i n all competitions and fourth straight clean sheet.
‘West Ham is a club with incredible potential and I don’t think it is anywhere near it. We want to change t he way people look at us but that takes t i m e . We are certainly not settling.’
S e a n Dyc h e ’s Burnley, meanwhile, will continue to wallow too close to the bottom three for comfort. With only nine goals scored in their 17 games, they are in trouble. ‘ I have belief i n our centre forwards but they need the supply,’ said Dyche. ‘I’m disappointed in the result but I do believe in what we do.’ West Ham led inside 10 minutes through Antonio, the man they’ve missed sorely and now free from hamstring trouble, after a move involving all four of the hosts’ forwards. Sai d Benrahma pl a yed a through-ball into the path of Jarrod Bowen. He held it up and found Fornals. The 24-year-old from Spain crossed, the ball skimmed off the head of Burnley’s Ben Mee, taking it away from his team-mate James Tarkowski, and Antonio scored.
Dyche was not happy with the miscommunication between his centre backs. Without Mee’s touch, Tarkowski seemed set to clear the danger, but they were now behind.
There was a typically creative celebration from Antonio, who has pretended to be Homer Simpson in the past, and produced unusual dance moves. This time, he laid down and did the backstroke.
The politicians won’t n’t kick up a fuss about that, though they won’t have lik liked d seeing the West Ham forward embraced by team- mates once back on his feet.
The hosts continued to put pressure on the visitors but it was Burnley who had the ball in the back of the net next. Unfortunately for them, and fortunately for Aaron Cresswell, it was ruled offside.
Chris Wood had broken down the left wing, crossed and Cresswell beat his own goalkeeper. Yet the assistant’s flag came to the rescue, with replays confirming Wood was indeed off. After 35 minutes, the Burnley woodwork was shaking. Bowen curled in a corner which Declan Rice flicked on to the back post. There, Angelo Ogbonna could not direct his header on target from two yards out.
It was almost 2-0 after 50 minutes when Antoni o b e a t Matthew Lowton in the air. His header lacked pace but was creeping in, until Mee cleared the ball off the line.
Benrahma was removed after 67 minutes and he had enjoyed a good game. In the No 10 position, he had been popping up in pockets of space and causing Burnley problems. West Ham were relying on counter-attacks and came close when Rice produced a beauty of a long ball which curled into the path of Bowen. He tried to find the bottom right corner, but got the wrong side of the post. Burnley had 10 minutes left to avoid defeat and Dwight McNeil almost dragged them back into the game by accident, overhitting a cross from the left wing which beat Lukasz Fabianski but not t he crossbar as the ball bounced back into play.
This fixture three years ago saw West Ham supporters invade the pitch. Mark Noble confronted one fan and threw him to the ground, while another held a corner flag aloft in the centre circle.
The club feels in a better place now, as they slowly but surely force their way up the Premier League table under Moyes. Next is the return of Sam Allardyce and West Brom on Tuesday.