Match Report: West Ham 3 – Leicester City 2

Match Report: West Ham 3 – Leicester City 2

West Ham United managed to hold off a pressing Leicester City to hold a Champions League qualifying position in their Premier League clash at the London Stadium.

Jesse Lingard, West Ham, opened up the scoreline in the 29th minute with a half-volley, on the edge of the box, as it curled into the near post before doubling his tally in the 44th minute.

Kelechi Iheanacho gave Leicester the morale boost they needed to attempt a comeback in the 70th minute as the Nigerian slotted the ball past, Hammers keeper, Lukasz Fabianski.

Mark Noble made his 400th Premier League appearance for the Hammers in their clash against Leicester.

A free kick in the second minute proved to Leicester, on away ground, that West Ham weren’t going to be easy to beat and placed the Foxes under immediate pressure. However, nothing came from the early set piece as it was cleared away.

Leicester attempted to retaliate five minutes later as Iheanacho tried to open up the scoreline but the shot was cleared over the crossbar.

Tomas Soucek, West Ham, became the first player of the game to be shown a yellow card after his challenge on Youri Tielemans (Leicester) in the 10th minute.

In a dangerous position, Hammers right back, Vladimir Coufal held the ball along the right wing and crossed it to Lingard who was on the edge of the box. On the half-volley, Lingard gave West Ham the lead in the 29th minute as he slotted the ball between Kasper Schmeichel and the near post.

Aaron Cresswell became West Ham’s second booking of the game with a challenge on Iheanacho, at the half-an-hour mark.

Leicester got themselves into the books after, right midfielder, Pereira Ricardo was shown a yellow card after a late tackle on Pablo Fornals, in the 33rd minute.

Jarrod Bowen, Hammers, made a great run from a through ball inside West Ham’s final third, in the 44th minute. As Schmeichel came out for a one-on-one, Bowens picked out an unmarked Lingard, in the center of the box, and the Englishman tapped it into an empty net.

VAR checked for a possible offside position from Bowen but the goal stood.

Wesley Fofana, City, found himself with a yellow card for ‘persistent infringement’ in the dying minutes of the first half.

? Another important shift from @jarrodbowen_ on Sunday

A constant threat ⚡️? pic.twitter.com/fUvTNjjat8

— West Ham United (@WestHam) April 13, 2021

Leicester right-back, Daniel Amartey, was the first change of the game, as the Foxes made a half-time change to bring on Luke Thomas.

A minute after the second half got underway, Wilfred Ndidi was booked for an ugly challenge on Bowen.

The Hammers extended their lead to three, in the 48th minute, as Lingard placed a pass to Soucek in Leicester’s final third. The Czech then found Bowen, on the right side of the box who managed to slot the ball into the net from close range.

Seemingly hindered with an injury, Cresswell was subbed off for Fabian Balbuena in the 53rd minute.

After a quick fire free kick (54th minute) Lingard crossed the ball into the box from the right wing and Issa Diop headed it home.

VAR inspected the goal and found Diop was marginally offside – goal discarded.

Marc Albrighton made his appearance for Leicester as he replaced Dennis Praet on the 59th minute.

Iheanacho gave City some motivation to mount a comeback on the 70th minute as Ricardo managed to get a toe to West Ham’s ball and placed it towards the Foxes forward. Iheanacho then slotted it into the right side of the net to drop the deficit down to two.

Shortly after being helped off the pitch with a sore arm, Mark Noble, West Ham, was subbed off for Ben Johnson (82nd minute), quickly followed by Said Benrahma for Bowen, two minutes later.

Iheanacho brought the deficit down to one in the 91st minute after a low cross was deflected to the feet of the Nigerian and he managed to connect the ball with a left-footed shot towards the net.

As the game drew to a close, in additional time, Arthur Masuaku (West Ham) became the final and sixth booked player of the game as he was found ‘delaying the restart.’

Full-time: West Ham 3 – Leicester City 2

Man of the Match: Jarrod Bowen

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