Michail Antonio was delighted to score the two goals which give West Ham United a healthy advantage to take to London Stadium from the first leg of our UEFA Europa Conference League round of 16 tie against AEK Larnaca.
The No9 struck twice inside the final nine minutes of the opening period in Cyprus, sealing a 2-0 victory for his side in the process.
Indeed, the only slight disappointment for the No9 was that he was unable to complete a hat-trick in the second period, striking the foot of the post after earlier finding the net with a header and a thumping 20-yard finish.
Those finishes took his tally for the season to nine in all competitions, meaning Antonio left AEK Arena wearing a broad smile.
“It was important to get the win tonight,” he explained. “That’s what we set out to do, get the win and get a good little gap between us [and them] to mean we’re ahead for when we go home next week.
“I was so close to the perfect hat-trick! When it hit the post I was devastated, but getting the two goals means I’m buzzing.
“Scoring the only two goals of the game means we won the game, so we can bring it on to next week and hopefully get some more.”
Antonio has seen Danny Ings start the team’s last two Premier League games, against Nottingham Forest and Brighton & Hove Albion, so he was glad to return from a minor hamstring injury with a bang in Larnaca, knowing there is fierce competition for places up front.
“In football there’s always competition, there’s always going to be the next person trying to get your shirt,” he continued.
“On Thursday I managed to come out and score some goals – whether I manage to get the opportunity at the weekend is what it is, but there’s always the competition and I’m buzzing for the fight.
“The hamstrings are good, the calves are a bit sore – I took a couple of kicks today so I think it just tightened up, but hopefully I’ll be alright.”
And with the second leg of the tie to come at London Stadium next week – tickets for the game are on General Sale here – Antonio is hoping for more of the same.
“In football anything can happen, but us being at home, in front of our fans [will help],” he concluded. “Hopefully we can get another win with some more goals under our belts.”
