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Antonio heaps praise on Haller

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Michail Antonio has heaped praise on West Ham United forward Sebastien Haller after their 3-1 victory over Watford on Saturday.

The club-record signing opened his account for the Hammers in the win, scoring twice as Manuel Pellegrini’s side picked up their first victory of the season.

Antonio was in awe of his fellow forward after the game when speaking to the Telegraph, claiming the 25-year-old is worth every last bit of his transfer fee.

“It was good that we have two people up there now who can play the big-man game – we can both hold the ball up and run in behind,” he said.

“We have got a nice little partnership going. He is a big strong guy – he is going to get goals. One thing I have always said since I have seen him in training – he is going to get goals. You can see it. Everyone is seeing why the price tag. He is worth it.”

Haller starred in the game against the Hornets, after missing the game against Brighton the weekend before due to injury [Sky Sports].

OPINION

Once Marko Arnautovic left the club in the summer, Antonio and Javier Hernandez were set to be the club’s only two out-and-out strikers. The signings of both Haller and Albian Ajeti were both key to bring competition in the final third for Pellegrini to choose from. The former Frankfurt forward proved he can cause havoc to opposition defences on Saturday, with the Frenchman bullying the Watford backline on his way to two goals. Antonio is right to praise Haller, and their partnership could flourish if given the chance. The 25-year-old has already averaged 2.5 shots per game this season and more impressively has won 4.5 aerial duels in each game according to WhoScored, proving he can both finish his chances and also set them up for his teammates to take advantage of in games. Should West Ham continue to create chances in and around the 18-yard-box, then Haller has more than proven he can easily slot them away, with the evidence on Saturday being that he can be deadly in front of goal this season.

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