Published: September 27, 2021 5:46 pm
Last Updated: September 27, 2021 5:50 pm
West Ham United star Michail Antonio has provided his take on the incident which saw him leave Leeds United goalkeeper Illan Meslier grounded during the meeting between the sides this past weekend.
Peacocks downed
David Moyes’ men of course made the trip to Elland Road on Saturday.
The Irons headed into proceedings brimming with confidence, fresh off the back of a 1-0 win at Old Trafford to book their spot in the Last-16 of the EFL Cup.
And, when all was said and done in West Yorkshire, West Ham’s fine early-season form only continued.
Despite going a goal down early on, the visitors eventually recovered, to emerge on the right side of a 2-1 scoreline.
Star hitman Michail Antonio proved the hero on the day, taking Declan Rice’s pass in his stride to surge into the Leeds box, before slotting home in confident fashion as proceedings rolled into time added on.
The assist from @_DeclanRice 👌
The cool finish from @Michailantonio ❄️What a goal this was 👏 pic.twitter.com/zoSNSjsewC
— West Ham United (@WestHam) September 26, 2021
‘Don’t think it’s a foul’
As outlined above, though, if some of the home support in attendance at Elland Road had had their way, then Antonio would in fact not even have been on the pitch to bag West Ham’s last-gasp winner on Saturday.
This came after an earlier incident saw the visitors denied a Tomas Soucek goal, after teammate Antonio was spotted by the VAR team landing a forearm into the face of Illan Meslier.
And, evidently, many were of the opinion that the challenge in question should have culminated in an immediate dismissal.
This became clear when, following the full-time whistle, the Hammers’ in-form attacker was targeted with shouts of ‘cheat, cheat, cheat’ and ‘you should have been off’.
West Ham United’s English midfielder Michail Antonio (R) celebrates scoring his team’s second goal past Burnley’s English goalkeeper Nick Pope during the English Premier League football match between Burnley and West Ham United at Turf Moor in Burnley, north west England, on May 3, 2021 (Photo by JON SUPER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
In turn, speaking in an ensuing interview with WHUTV, Antonio was inevitably drawn on the situation, and the abuse directed at him by Leeds’ supporters.
The 31-year-old, though, was bullish in his response, revealing his opinion that, in fact, the coming together was not even worthy of a free-kick:
‘Basically, I’ve jumped up and the hand that I’ve led with has caught the goalkeeper.’
‘I honestly don’t think that it’s a foul, but I’ve caught him, he’s gone down, and we’ve scored from it. The referee has made the decision and that’s the decision at the end of the day. We’ve managed to get the three points anyway and we’ll keep going.’
Michail Antonio responds to Leeds United supporters’ accusations of cheating https://t.co/ovmoljWnVt
— football.london (@Football_LDN) September 27, 2021
How Leeds aimed a less-than-subtle dig at Jurgen Klopp in pre-West Ham programme
“No wonder Valencia fired you” – Fans react as Gary Neville names his preferred Manchester United XI
West Ham betting odds, next game:
West Ham vs Brentford odds: result, both teams to score, correct score & goalscorers
West Ham’s latest videos
GOALS | LEEDS UNITED 1-2 WEST HAM UNITED
West Ham do it again in Leeds’ back yard. Same score line, same end…
2021-09-25T21:00:01Z
MAN UNITED KNOCKED OUT AT OLD TRAFFORD | BEHIND THE SCENES
What a win! We’re into the next round of the Carabao Cup after a…
2021-09-23T13:24:09Z
Premier League table
| # | Team | MP | D | P |
| 1 | Liverpool FC | 6 | 11 | 14 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 6 | 11 | 13 |
| 3 | Chelsea FC | 6 | 10 | 13 |
| 4 | Manchester United | 6 | 8 | 13 |
| 5 | Everton FC | 6 | 5 | 13 |
| 6 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 5 | 3 | 12 |
| 7 | West Ham United | 6 | 5 | 11 |
| 8 | Aston Villa | 6 | 2 | 10 |
| 9 | Brentford FC | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| 10 | Arsenal FC | 6 | -5 | 9 |
| 11 | Tottenham Hotspur | 6 | -5 | 9 |
| 12 | Watford FC | 6 | -2 | 7 |
| 13 | Leicester City | 6 | -3 | 7 |
| 14 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 6 | -2 | 6 |
| 15 | Crystal Palace | 5 | -3 | 5 |
| 16 | Southampton FC | 6 | -3 | 4 |
| 17 | Newcastle United | 6 | -7 | 3 |
| 18 | Leeds United | 6 | -8 | 3 |
| 19 | Burnley FC | 6 | -6 | 2 |
| 20 | Norwich City | 6 | -14 | 0 |
| Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Antonio, Michail | West Ham United | 5 |
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 5 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City | 5 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United | 4 |
| Sarr, Ismaila | Watford FC | 4 |
| Benrahma, Said | West Ham United | 3 |
| Gray, Demarai | Everton FC | 3 |
| Ronaldo, Cristiano | Manchester United | 3 |
| Lukaku, Romelu | Chelsea FC | 3 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur | 3 |
| Mane, Sadio | Liverpool FC | 3 |
| Maupay, Neal | Brighton & Hove Albion | 3 |
| Calvert-Lewin, Dominic | Everton FC | 3 |
| Jota, Diogo | Liverpool FC | 3 |
| Raphinha | Leeds United | 3 |
| Greenwood, Mason | Manchester United | 3 |
| Doucoure, Abdoulaye | Everton FC | 2 |
| Saint-Maximin, Allan | Newcastle United | 2 |
| Jesus, Gabriel | Manchester City | 2 |
| Townsend, Andros | Everton FC | 2 |
| Player | Team | Red Cards | Yellow Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pogba, Paul | Manchester United | 0 | 3 |
| Dennis, Emmanuel | Watford FC | 0 | 3 |
| Cooper, Liam | Leeds United | 0 | 3 |
| Etebo, Oghenekaro | Watford FC | 0 | 3 |
| Skipp, Oliver | Tottenham Hotspur | 0 | 3 |
| Antonio, Michail | West Ham United | 0 | 1 |
| Doucoure, Abdoulaye | Everton FC | 0 | 2 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United | 0 | 2 |
| Raphinha | Leeds United | 0 | 2 |
| Alonso, Marcos | Chelsea FC | 0 | 2 |
| Rice, Declan | West Ham United | 0 | 2 |
| Richarlison | Everton FC | 0 | 2 |
| Ritchie, Matt | Newcastle United | 0 | 2 |
| Westwood, Ashley | Burnley FC | 0 | 2 |
| Gudmundsson, Johann | Burnley FC | 0 | 2 |
| Duffy, Shane | Brighton & Hove Albion | 0 | 2 |
| Norgaard, Christian | Brentford FC | 0 | 2 |
| Rudiger, Antonio | Chelsea FC | 0 | 2 |
| Tarkowski, James | Burnley FC | 0 | 2 |
| Laporte, Aymeric | Manchester City | 0 | 2 |
| Player | Team | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| Pogba, Paul | Manchester United | 7 |
| Antonio, Michail | West Ham United | 3 |
| Doucoure, Abdoulaye | Everton FC | 3 |
| Saint-Maximin, Allan | Newcastle United | 3 |
| Jesus, Gabriel | Manchester City | 3 |
| Kovacic, Mateo | Chelsea FC | 3 |
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 2 |
| Benrahma, Said | West Ham United | 2 |
| Townsend, Andros | Everton FC | 2 |
| Ings, Danny | Aston Villa | 2 |
| Toney, Ivan | Brentford FC | 2 |
| Bamford, Patrick | Leeds United | 2 |
| James, Reece | Chelsea FC | 2 |
| Gross, Pascal | Brighton & Hove Albion | 2 |
| King, Joshua | Watford FC | 2 |
| Pereira, Ricardo | Leicester City | 2 |
| Alexander-Arnold, Trent | Liverpool FC | 2 |
| Rice, Declan | West Ham United | 2 |
| Luiz, Douglas | Aston Villa | 2 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City | 1 |
