Darren Bent has heaped praise on West Ham United forward Michail Antonio after his return from injury in the 3-2 defeat against Tottenham on Saturday.
The Sky Sports pundit claimed that the 29-year-old was the Hammers’ best player on the park after coming on at half time and scoring their first goal in the contest.
Bent was blown away by the power and strength on display from Antonio at the London Stadium after he made his first appearance since August in the EFL Cup against Newport County.
“Yeah, he was and he scored a great goal as well,” he told Football Insider.
“But I always said Antonio was an asset as he is big, powerful and he can score a goal as he plays with no fear as he gets on with it and plays well.”
Bent did go on to suggest that Antonio won’t be the talisman that the Hammers may need, but he will chip in with a number of goals in the Premier League.
OPINION
Antonio certainly made the impact that was required of him when he entered the action at half time against Spurs. The 29-year-old came on and made double the impact that any of his teammates managed to make, and was a menace for the Spurs defence, who had a relatively easy first half against the isolated Sebastien Haller. Antonio had his best afternoon in the Premier League so far, earning a WhoScored match rating of 7.76 – his best before Saturday’s clash was a poor 6.61 in the 3-1 victory over Watford. Antonio completed three dribbles on top of that, which is the same amount he had managed in his previous 126 minutes of action, and he has well and truly put his name in the hat to feature from the start next time out. Bent did suggest his concerns over his ability to find the back of the net, but his presence alone in the final third should give Haller the partner he needs to thrive in front of goal between now and the end of the season.
