Michail Antonio admits West Ham’s Europa League showdown in Lyon will be a ‘fight’ as boss David Moyes insists Hammers have a ‘toughness’ about them as they prepare for tense second-leg scrap
- West Ham drew 1-1 in the first leg having seen Aaron Cresswell sent off early on
- David Moyes challenged his team to see how they do against Lyon with 11
- Michail Antonio acknowledges it will be a ‘fight’ agains the Ligue 1 giants
- The Hammers or Lyon will face Barcelona or Frankfurt in the semi-finals
There was fighting talk from punchy West Ham on Wednesday night as Michail Antonio predicted an almighty scrap in Lyon and manager David Moyes said: ‘Let’s see what we can do with 11 men.’
According to the striker, West Ham can win the Europa League. To do that, they will need to navigate their way past Lyon after the Ligue 1 side held them to a 1-1 draw in last week’s first leg.
Aaron Cresswell’s red card meant West Ham played with 10 men for the second half — Moussa Dembele was caught winking after drawing the foul — but Moyes is confident they can overcome Lyon on Thursday night with 11.
Michail Antonio said West Ham are ready for a ‘fight’ in their Europa League second leg at Lyon
‘We’ve got a great chance,’ the Scot said.
‘If you had given me the quarter-finals of the Europa League, 1-1, away from home, I’d have taken that. This is a really powerful position to be in.
‘We’ve got a bit of toughness about us. We played 45 minutes with 10 men, so let’s see what we can do with 11.’
One problem is that West Ham will be without Kurt Zouma, the French defender who is now expected to miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury.
West Ham trained in London before travelling out to France for their quarter-final second leg
Moyes considered using Declan Rice at centre back on Thursday night, but feared it would be detrimental to take the England international out of his usual midfield role. Instead, Issa Diop is expected to start beside Craig Dawson.
Zouma’s absence did not dampen Antonio’s mood. Players are usually reserved in their press conferences, but the 32-year-old was full of confidence.
‘The boys are buzzing,’ Antonio said. ‘The way things are going now, we’re going to win it. We’re in it to win it and that’s the plan.
‘It’s been a brilliant season. We’ve been resilient. When we’ve had knock-backs, we’ve come back from them.
‘Last week, we went down to 10 men, now we come to this game 1-1. We believe we can come here and win and that’s the plan.’
On whether the wink from Dembele adds an aggressive dimension, Antonio continued: ‘There’s an edge anyway. It’s a quarter-final, the game ends tomorrow and we know we need to go out and win. Tomorrow there’s going to be a fight.
‘We give our all. It’s a great opportunity for us, a dream come true to get this far and we’re not going to let anyone take it away.’
Lyon are only 10th in Ligue 1, but last week’s performance suggested they are a threat, especially Brazilian Lucas Paqueta.
Antonio’s last goal for West Ham was on March 2 at Southampton, but he has thrived in his role as a link man, Jarrod Bowen among those benefiting.
‘It’s the longest streak I’ve had of not scoring in my career,’ said Antonio, who has a special celebration lined up if he scores.
‘But it’s about being a team player and that’s what I’m doing.’
Aaron Cresswell trudges off after being sent off in last week’s first leg at the London Stadium
David Moyes was relishing the chance to face Lyon with eleven players on the pitch
On the bench for West Ham will be Mark Noble, the 34-year-old captain who will come on if the tie seems destined for penalties.
‘That’s not the script I’ve got in my head,’ said Moyes. ‘The script I’ve got is we win it earlier.’
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