Seemingly finding his feet against Everton in his first start with two goals after four appearances from the bench, Andriy Yarmolenko’s West Ham form appeared to be on the way up over the past few weeks.
An ‘assist’ on a heavily deflected own goal against a sub-par Manchester United helped that belief continue, and the Ukraine international was expected to be one of the players to make the difference in the away game against Brighton at the weekend.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and Manuel Pellegrini’s men succumbed to a 1-0 defeat as Yarmolenko was subbed off in the 70th minute to make room for Lucas Perez.
Seemingly criticised in his home country (we can’t find what was actually said) after the game, the forward came out on Monday to challenge Wladimir Kobelkov, a commentator on Ukrainian TV, to what appears to be an actual fight.
He told Xsport: “In my youth, I fought a lot. There was wins and there were losses. It’s normal for a boy, for a man. I want to announce my next fight. I don’t want to listen to that Kobelkov any longer. I want to call him out for a fight and get my revenge on all those things he’s said on air. I’m waiting for an answer.”
It’s not everyday you see a footballer challenge a pundit/commentator to a bout of fisticuffs, and it’s certainly something we’ve never had in England.
Although, to be honest, we’d pay some money to see a Paul Pogba vs Graeme Souness organised fight in a ring.
