West Ham United striker Michail Antonio has told Match of the Day 2 that his side were feeling frustrated they did not get something from Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester United – but praised duo Harry Maguire and David De Gea.
Erik ten Hag is finally adding some consistency to his side’s performance after a shaky start. They have gone eight games unbeaten, winning six of those matches. On Sunday, it was Marcus Rashford’s brilliant goal that won the game.
A gorgeous, pinpoint cross from the right flank from Christian Eriksen saw Rashford get a leap on Thilo Kehrer. The England star powered an effort past Lukasz Fabianski and it proved to be the only goal of the game.
But it might not have been, had it been for the performance of De Gea. The United icon has made a number of mistakes this season but he was excellent – denying the likes of Antonio, Declan Rice and other West Ham stars.
Antonio made an appearance as a pundit on MOTD2 on Sunday following his side’s narrow loss. He says there are positives to take but the Hammers do feel frustration – singling out De Gea and Maguire for praise for their displays.
“We definitely deserved something from it. But this is football, we had so many opportunities but De Gea was on fire today, Harry Maguire put his body on the line – only came in because of the injury to Varane, but he did well today.”
Antonio has praised Manchester United duo Maguire and De Gea
Maguire was excellent. It is easy to praise De Gea and while he deserves praise, his saves were ones he had to make. If he fails to do so, it is seen as a mistake. But for Maguire, it was only his third Premier League start of the campaign.
Indeed, the England defender lost his place to Raphael Varane and then, picked up a hamstring injury. It has seen him miss out since the beginning of September, in the Premier League. So, to return as he did, deserves plenty of praise.
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