West Ham attacker Michail Antonio revealed that he was urging the club to stop replaying Javier Hernandez’s goal during the 3-1 win over Fulham on Friday.
The 28-year-old winger got on the scoresheet during his side’s latest win but was asked after the game by Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher what he made of his side’s first goal of the match.
Hernandez appeared to score with his hand rather than his head and Antonio seemed to be in agreement after having seen the goal replayed three times on the big screens at the London Stadium.
“Errrr Chicha scored that’s what happened…Chicha scored that’s all I can say,” said Antonio on Sky Sports Premier League (Friday February 22nd, 22:08).
“To be honest I didn’t see it until they replayed it three times and I was like ‘take it off the screen.’
“But from there we picked ourselves up, controlled ourselves and managed to get the victory.”
OPINION
It was an awkward question to be asked by all accounts but Antonio’s view on Hernandez’s goal ended up leaving both Neville and Carragher laughing. The Hammers attacker clearly knew why they were asking him about his teammate’s goal and indirectly acknowledged that it probably shouldn’t have stood. Hernandez’s goal ended up having a great effect on the match as it brought the Hammers back into the game after they had surprisingly gone behind to Fulham. With the goal standing, it seemed to knock all of the stuffing out of Claudio Ranieri’s side and make them much more easier to brush aside. In fairness upon making the score 1-1, Manuel Pellegrini’s team upped their game in order to take full advantage of the Fulham players’ dropping their heads. Antonio in particularly shone brightly, especially in the second half, as he looked too powerful and too fast for Fulham’s defence to handle. The 28-year-old may have had a slow start to the season but since the start of 2019, he has looked back to his best.