If any more proof was required that Michail Antonio is not a right-back, it arrived at the ideal moment for West Ham United.
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“It feels incredible to be the first Premier League goal scorer at London Stadium and it’s one of those things I can always tell my kids”, he told West Ham TV.
Playing in a more familiar role on Sunday, Antonio made amends for that error as he latched onto Gokhan Tore’s looping cross to outmuscle Charlie Daniels and head home at the back post with five minutes remaining.
Already booked for dissent after conceding a free kick for handball, the midfielder received a second yellow card after fouling the marauding Cheikhou Kouyaté with 13 minutes left.
It is expected that Dimitri Payet, who was so sorely missed, and Manuel Lanzini will return for next weekend’s trip to Manchester City, if not the critical Europa League tie here on Thursday against the -Romanians of Astra Giurgiu.
Carroll joined West Ham on loan initially before completing a permanent move from Liverpool, but a series of injuries have meant that he has only been available for around half the matches during his time with the club. But I will talk with the directors on Monday morning about getting one, and if we do it will be a good one, but if not we will survive anyway.
“The lads were brilliant”, he said.
In London, it was four years ago that the Olympic Stadium hosted the Games but on Sunday, as Rio prepared to bring the curtain down on the latest edition, there were again plenty of flags as West Ham sought to give their fans something to cheer.
“On behalf of all at West Ham United, I would like to welcome Ocean Holidays on board and I hope this is the start of a very successful relationship over the coming three years”.
But in truth, Bournemouth dealt comfortably with West Ham’s early pressure, though without notably creating an opportunity of their own.
Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe saw his side suffer a second successive after the dismissal of Harry Arter for a second booking. “It wasn’t a great game but we didn’t expect to play like we’d like to play with the players we have out”.
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“The sending-off was huge – it changed the game”, Bournemouth defender Steve Cook said. “We need to be disciplined and keep 11 players on the pitch”. We know the rules, dissent will be yellow cards and that’s the one that burns with us. “We’re going to try to get one if possible”.
