Saturday, January 16

Antonio edges it for the Hammers

West Ham 1 Burnley 0

In our never-ending round of TV companies it's on to Amazon Prime to watch this one. The Irons get off to a great start as Benrahma plays Bowen in with a fine through ball, he finds Fornals who crosses for Antonio to get behind Tarkowski and stroke home. The ball has taken a nick off Mee's head and Michail has anticipated well. 

Antonio does a backstroke swimming celebration, which Matt says is a reference to his old job as a life attendant (though not sure I'd trust him to save my life with those dodgy hamstrings). We later discover it's Michail's forfeit from a game of Call of Duty with Declan Rice.

It's a poor game, but West Ham look livelier with Benrahma playing well. A Cresswell own goal is correctly disallowed for offside, then Ogbonna is unlucky to head against the post after Rice flicks on a corner. The second half sees more West Ham chances as Rice fires a free kick just over, Bowen hits the side netting and Fornals has a shot blocked.

Moyes makes the strange decision to sub Benrahma for Lanzini and then replaces Bowen with Yarmolenko. Our subs make us worse while Burnley's new man McNeil causes problems with his crosses, including one which grazes the bar.

But Dawson and Ogbonna remain solid at the back and Rice is shielding well. It should be two as Antonio gets in a great touch and then Rice plays in Yarmolenko on the left. The leaden-footed Ukrainian dithers and takes a shot instead of squaring to Antonio. Matt's hairdryer is aimed at Yarmy on WhatsApp.

Lanzini blasts a late shot over the bar but the Hammers hold on against a largely toothless Burnley. Not a great performance but a resilient one and we'll take the points. Now it's Moyes versus Allardyce on Tuesday, which for my pal Fraser has all the horror potential of The Shining

We go eighth with 29 points, which is impressive at this stage of the season. Antonio has looked back to his best today, but it's now vital we make a signing to have more support for Michail's hamstrings up front. It's time to show some ambition as we're getting results with a painfully thin squad.

PLAYER RATINGS: Fabianski 6; Coufal 6, Ogbonna 7, Dawson 7, Cresswell 6; Fornals 6, Rice 7, Soucek 6, Benrahma 7 (Lanzini 5); Bowen 6 (Yarmolenko 4), Antonio 8. 

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