Michail Antonio’s record goal for West Ham United was sealed with a kiss.
The fun-loving striker on Monday became the club’s all-time leading scorer in the English Premier League era, moving onto 49 goals by netting twice in a 4-1 win over 10-man Leicester City at the London Stadium.
Antonio’s first — a close-range shot on the turn to make it 3-1 in the 80th — moved him past Paolo di Canio’s previous record of 47, and he celebrated by running to the sideline and raising aloft a cardboard cut-out of himself.
Photo: Reuters
Spinning around to cheers from a packed crowd, Antonio — whose goal celebrations often provide amusement — finished his routine by planting a kiss on himself before tossing the cut-out to the ground.
He said the celebration was based on 2001 movie Save The Last Dance and was preplanned, having placed the cut-out behind West Ham’s dugout before kickoff.
“I’ve not been celebrating of late because of [the video assistant referee],” Antonio said. “I was like: ‘If I’m making history, I’ve got to do something special.’ I started it off doing celebrations, so I’ve got to finish it doing celebrations.”
Antonio — a converted striker, having played as a winger and even a fullback since joining West Ham in 2015 — still had time to add a second goal, stretching to prod home a finish in the 84th after controlling a right-wing cross. It wrapped up West Ham’s second straight victory to open the season.
West Ham are one of five teams to be on a maximum six points after two rounds, and are in first place on goals scored.
“I’ve challenged the players to find that extra two points that could have been enough to get us in the [UEFA] Champions League,” West Ham manager David Moyes said, referring to his team finishing in sixth place last season — two points behind fourth-placed Chelsea.
“I could be asking far too much, but what else am I going to do — stand here and say we want to avoid relegation?” Moyes asked.
West Ham have not started a top-flight season with two straight wins since 1997. They have eight goals so far, having beaten Newcastle United 4-2 last weekend.
Algeria winger Said Benrahma, who has also started the season strongly like Antonio, set up Pablo Fornals for West Ham’s 26th-minute opener before scoring himself to put West Ham 2-0 ahead. Antonio played a key role in Benrahma’s goal, intercepting a back-pass by Leicester defender Caglar Soyuncu before playing the ball across the area for his teammate to convert.
Youri Tielemans pulled a goal back in the 69th minute for Leicester, which lost attacking midfielder Ayoze Perez to a straight red card in the 40th for a lunge at the ankle of Fornals.
LA LIGA
AP, MADRID
New signing Erik Lamela scored in stoppage-time on Monday for his third goal in two matches as Sevilla edged Getafe 1-0 to join defending champions Atletico Madrid as the only teams with a perfect start in the Spanish league.
Lamela got the winner from inside the area by picking up the rebound from Rafa Mir’s shot, which hit the post after a breakaway three minutes into injury time.
“We were not comfortable, but in the last play we fought until the end because we knew we could score and get the win,” Lamela said. “Luckily we started with two victories and we will keep working hard so we can get better. We have a lot to improve.”
SERIE A
Reuters, GENOA, Italy
AC Milan’s Brahim Diaz on Monday struck an early goal that proved enough to earn a 1-0 victory at US Sampdoria in their opening match of the Serie A season.
The visitors quickly got their campaign up and running as Diaz, who rejoined Milan on loan from Real Madrid for the next two seasons, squeezed the ball home after nine minutes.
Both sides had chances in the first half, with new Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan making several fine stops to preserve his side’s lead, although the pace slowed as the match wore on.
Close-season Milan signing Olivier Giroud did have two late opportunities to cap his debut with a goal, but Diaz’s strike gave Stefano Pioli’s side the three points.
“I think we all fight together and on the pitch the spirit is the right one,” Diaz told DAZN. “The team always does something more. With this spirit we will do great things.”
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