Glenn Hoddle raved about West Ham attacker Michail Antonio after his performance in the 3-2 loss to Tottenham.
The BT Sport pundit started off by gushing about the 29-year-old for his goal against Spurs with him claiming that it was a wonderful finish as he did well to keep the ball from flying over the crossbar.
“This is a wonderful goal from Antonio,” said Hoddle on BT Sport 1 (14:01, Saturday, November 23rd).
“He’s going for a one-two Mark Noble, and he just lets the ball roll across his body, swivels on it, fires it back across goal, fabulous.
“He’s done well to actually stay over it, wonderful strike away from the keeper.”
BT Sport commentator Darren Fletcher then asked Hoddle about Antonio’s general impact since entering the game, and the former England boss heaped praise on the winger.
“From the first minute in the second-half, he has been putting himself about, chasing lost causes, if they could just get good service to him along with Haller…” added Hoddle.
“But he has deserved his goal for his hard work, and it was a quality goal.”
OPINION
West Ham had a miserable time against Tottenham and the scoreline flattered them. However, if there was any positive for Manuel Pellegrini to cling to after the game when arguing why he can turn things around at the London Stadium, it was the performance of Antonio. The Hammers boss brought the 29-year-old on at half-time, with Felipe Anderson, making way and he proceeded to change the match. While Spurs did seem to take their foot off the pedal, which allowed the Hammers back into the game, the opportunity to impress still had to be taken and Antonio worked hard to make the most of any opportunity that came his way. The winger achieved a match rating of 7.77 on WhoScored for his efforts on Saturday and was by far the Hammers’ most attacking presence. Antonio registered two shots on target, more than any other Hammer, and impressively completed three dribbles to fluster Spurs (Source: WhoScored). With that in mind, maybe the Hammers will fare better in their next game if Antonio is able to play 90 minutes.
