West Ham pair create Premier League first as Antonio leads the way up top

West Ham duo Michail Antonio and Said Benrahma created a piece of Premier League history on Monday as they once again made crucial contributions in a 4-1 thrashing of Leicester City.

The pair had been prominent in an opening-weekend 4-2 win over Newcastle United, with both recording an assist and also getting a goal at St James’ Park.

They repeated the feat against Leicester and, in doing so, became the first players in the competition to both score and assist for their side in the opening two games of a Premier League campaign.

Benrahma set up Pablo Fornals to open the scoring, then doubled the lead shortly after half-time following excellent work by Antonio, who added a late brace after Leicester had pulled a goal back.

With his double, Antonio now stands alone as West Ham’s all-time leading Premier League scorer, having previously sat level with Paolo Di Canio on 47.

Speaking after the game, West Ham boss David Moyes told reporters: “[Michail] has got a big personality, he’s a big character, and I think he’s probably just needed a little bit of real direction. But I think he’s got it himself.

“I think his family life, his home life has given him something nice and steady. We’ve come in and given him a position where I feel he’s playing really well.

“He’s probably looking back and thinking, ‘why was I not a centre-forward earlier? I might have scored loads more goals!’

“Because he’s now enjoying the feeling. You can see what he thinks of it in his celebrations. I think he can score more goals, and this year, we’re hoping that he can do.”

Opposite number Brendan Rodgers, whose five defeats against Moyes rank as his worst managerial head-to-head record in the competition, was impressed by Antonio’s performance

“Michail has finished his last two goals really well, and puts a shine on it,” the Leicester manager said.

“Michail’s performance was outstanding, he was strong and aggressive, but ‘Cags’ [Leicester defender Caglar Soyuncu] has had better days.”