ANT ’N’ WRECK
Moyes slams striker for his
MICHAIL ANTONIO was branded “stupid” by David Moyes for the tackle that earned West Ham’s talisman a late red card.
Antonio had already been booked for pushing Southampton defender Jack Stephens when he went flying into a reckless 95th-minute challenge on Moussa Djenepo.
The Premier League’s August Player of the Month will now miss next weekend’s clash at home to leaders Manchester United.
Hammers manager Moyes said: “After getting booked for the first one, Michail was stupid to lunge in on the second one.
“He has got himself sent off. I have not seen it again, but at the time it looked like the referee got it right.
“We won’t make too big a deal out of it because these things can happen in football.”
Moyes hinted Antonio would now be selected for the Hammers’ upcoming Europa League trip to Croatia to face Dinamo Zagreb.
The Scot said: “We do not want Michail to go weeks without playing a game.”
A victory would have taken the Hammers to joint top of the table, but Moyes was not too disappointed with the outcome, nor his team’s performance.
Moyes, whose side were also held to a 2-2 draw at home by Crystal Palace prior to the international break, said: “I thought we played some really good football.
“Our mid to forward area did not connect. It looked like they had all been away on international duty.
“In all the other games this season we have looked as if we can score more or less at will.
“We have drawn our last two matches now, but in both games we looked the team more likely to win.”
Defences were on top in a dour first half as both teams struggled to find any rhythm in their play.
Adam Armstrong’s snapshot from just inside the penalty area after being played in by Nathan Redmond with just three minutes on the clock was the only effort on target.
Tino Livramento’s miscued cross midway through the half threatened to embarrass Lukasz Fabianski.
But the veteran Hammers goalkeeper managed to back-peddle and pluck the ball from underneath his own crossbar.
The second half was much more incident-packed and home goalkeeper Alex Mccarthy was finally called into action two minutes after the restart, clawing away
Antonio’s low drive. Saints were nearly caught in a Czechmate nine minutes later when Tomas Soucek rose to meet fellow countryman Vladimir Coufal’s whipped cross, but could not keep his header down.
In the 68th minute another Coufal cross caused havoc in the penalty area, resulting in Jarrod Bowen’s well-struck volley being tipped over by the alert Mccarthy. Saints called Chelsea loanee Armando Broja off the bench for the final 16 minutes and the burly Albanian twice came close to netting a late winner.
First on 81 minutes, Broja outmuscled Craig Dawson on the halfway line before racing past Angelo Ogbonna and beating Fabianski with his low right-foot shot only to be denied by the post. Moments later, Broja met a James Ward-prowse corner with a glancing header that was cleared off the line by England midfielder Declan Rice.
Former Southampton loan star Antonio cut a frustrated figure for much of the afternoon after being kept quiet by the hosts.
Those emotions boiled over when Antonio scythed down Djenepo, leaving referee David
Coote with no option but to brandish him with a second yellow card.
Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl praised his back-line for goading Antonio into his dismissal.
The Austrian said: “We played in a little bit of a different way.
“We gave them more possession, which is new to us, but we defended very deep.
The defence played by far their best game against Antonio because we have struggled against him in the past, but he was sent off because he got frustrated by his lack of chances.
“In the end, we had the better chances and could have won. With a little bit more luck, we could have won it.
“It is a pity we did not take the points.”
After getting himself booked, he has got sent off. We do not want Michail to go weeks without playing a game.