Michail Antonio became West Ham’s outright top scorer in the Premier League in a dominant 4-1 victory for the Hammers over 10-man Leicester City at London Stadium on Monday.
Antonio celebrated by lifting a cardboard cut-out of himself after scoring his 48th top-flight goal to break Paolo di Canio’s club record.
The 31-year-old added a second four minutes later to wrap up an impressive win for David Moyes’ side.
It is only the second time the Hammers have won their opening two fixtures of a Premier League campaign.
Pablo Fornals and Said Benrahma scored West Ham’s first two goals either side of Ayoze Perez’s dismissal for a stamp on goalscorer Fornals.
Youri Tielemans had briefly given the visitors hope at 2-1 before Antonio’s late double.
Only Manchester City and Manchester United won more points away from home than Leicester in the Premier League last season, but the Foxes were outplayed in their first game on the road in the new campaign.
Brendan Rodgers put it mildly when he said his side were ‘very light’ at the back in his pre-match interview, with new signing Jannik Vestergaard joining Wesley Fofana, James Justin, Ryan Bertrand, Jonny Evans and Nampalys Mendy on the sidelines.
The makeshift Foxes defence was finally undone by West Ham on 26 minutes when Fornals scored his third goal in as many league games for the Hammers.
The Spaniard played a quick one-two with Benrahma on the left before continuing his run into the box, sweeping past Kasper Schmeichel with a first-time finish from 10 yards. (BBC)
by Daily News Sri Lanka
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