Agbonlahor wowed by what Michail Antonio did in West Ham United win v Newcastle
Gabby Agbonlahor has heaped praise on Michail Antonio for his defensive work for West Ham United in their 2-0 win over Newcastle on Monday.
The talkSPORT pundit believes the Jamaica international was at the forefront as the Hammers players displayed a desire to fight for Julen Lopetegui at St James’ Park on 25 November.
Agbonlahor pointed out how Antonio did not hesitate to drop back and lunge into challenges when needed, thus ensuring a win for his team.
“It was a team that [went], ‘you know what? we’re going to fight for the manager, we’re going to start running around more,” Agbonlahor said on talkSPORT [26 November].
“You can talk about tactics and formations and philosophies, [but it comes down to] who’s going to work harder?
“I felt last night [25 November] West Ham worked a lot harder than Newcastle.
“Antonio was flying back and slide-tackling. Antonio was playing as the one up front and most of the time, he was running back, defending.
“Then, [Jarrod] Bowen was defending and flying forward. Sometimes you need to, as a team, just show we’re going to run around for our manager.”
Michail Antonio fought for Julen Lopetegui in West Ham win v Newcastle
Antonio has come in for a lot of criticism this season, having netted only once in 13 games across all competitions.
However, much of the 34-year-old’s contributions come off the ball, as evidenced by his performance on Tyneside on Monday.
It emerged last week that the games against Newcastle and Arsenal would be make or break for Lopetegui [The Guardian] and the players, including Antonio, were keen not to let their manager down.
It will now be a huge boost of confidence to the East London outfit if they can get at least a point against the Gunners, who have failed to win each of their last four away games in the league, at home on Saturday [30 November].
Lopetegui, meanwhile, will be a relieved man after leading the team to a win against Newcastle and perhaps buying himself more time at the London Stadium
David Sullivan is now prepared to give the Spaniard more time to turn things around at West Ham [GiveMeSport].
In other West Ham news, the Irons are planning to raid this Championship club, with two of their players on the radar.
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