West Ham United 1-2 Leicester City: Foxes Bounce Back With Win Over Struggling Hammers

West Ham United and Leicester City entered this game on opposite conditions. While The Hammers needed a win to move away from the relegation zone, The Foxes had to win to inch a bit closer to Liverpool, who remain at the top of the standings. The visitors got the job done, however, and secured a 2-1 win at Olympic Stadium.

Kelechi Iheanacho and Demarai Gray netted at each side of half time to give Leicester the win here, while Pablo Fornals had scored a first-half equalizer for the hosts. Gray previously missed a penalty that could’ve extended the lead for the King Power Stadium outfit.

Leicester wasted no time to create danger near West Ham’s goal, and referee David Coote called a penalty within the first 10 minutes due to a foul from Lukasz Fabianski. The former Arsenal shot-stopped recovered from his mistake, however, and he saved Gray’s penalty in the 12th minute. That miss sparked West Ham and they had one big chance to score with an outside-the-box shot from Arthur Masauku, but Kasper Schmeichel denied the goal.

It seemed as if the first half was going to end scoreless, but both sides had other plans before the break. Iheanacho broke the deadlock with a header in the 40th minute, but West Ham equalized with a Fornals strike following an assist from Felipe Anderson. Perhaps undeserved, but West Ham ended levelled at the break and with a realistic chance to steal points from one of the best sides in the league so far this season.

However, Leicested sealed the deal in the first chance they had in the second half. A great pass from Ayoze Perez found Gray inside the box and the winger smashed an effort into the top corner on a one-on-one with Fabianski. As it turns out, Leicester would never relinquish that advantage.

West Ham made several substitutions after the break, including Michail Antonio and Robert Snodgrass, but the changes made no effect. The Foxes closed things out and secured three vital points on the two-team title race they have with Liverpool.

Meanwhile, West Ham United now sit in 17th place of the standings. However, they sit just one point above the red zone. Needless to say, the must improve quickly if they want to fight for something else than avoiding relegation in the second half of the season.

Match Report

West Ham United: Fabianski (6); Fredericks (5), Balbuena (6), Diop (5), Masauku (5); Rice (6), Sanchez (5) (Snodgrass (6), 62′); Fornals (8), Lanzini (5) (Ajeti (-), 70′), Felipe Anderson (7); Haller (6) (Antonio (5), 55′)

Bench: Jimenez (GK), Reid, Zabaleta, Noble

Leicester City: Schmeichel (6); Justin (5), Morgan (6), Evans (6), Fuchs (5); Gray (6) (Barnes (-), 83′), Choudhury (5), Mendy (6) (Ndidi (5), 70′), Albrighton (5); Ayoze Perez (7) (Maddison (6), 64′); Iheanacho (7)

Bench: Ward (GK), Söyüncü, Chilwell, Tielemans

Goals: Iheanacho (0-1, 40′), Fornals (1-1, 45′), Gray (1-2, 56′)

Yellow Cards: Fabianski, Masuaku, Diop, Rice (WH); Choudhury (LEI)

Red Cards: None