West Ham robbed yet again as they outplay Leicester City
By Adam Smith
![LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 20: Michail Antonio of West Ham United battles for possession with Ben Chilwell of Leicester City during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Leicester City at London Stadium on April 20, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images) LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 20: Michail Antonio of West Ham United battles for possession with Ben Chilwell of Leicester City during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Leicester City at London Stadium on April 20, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/3347f3fcf3c147e4699c469e6a847903346e6d1143ce31e4586ae8e1e42c8be6.jpg)
Two weeks in a row West Ham drop points after poor refereeing rules out onside goals. This week against Leicester, the Irons put forward a dominant performance that saw two mistakes get taken advantage of. West Ham played well but yet again are asking the referees for an explanation.
The scoreline read 2-2 but it was much more than that for West Ham. Goals from Michail Antonio and Lucas Perez were neutralized by Jamie Vardy and Harvey Barnes, but a second from Perez that was ruled offside is stealing the headlines.
Two late substitutions saw Robert Snodgrass relieved by Pedro Obiang and Marko Arnautovic by Lucas Perez and left most West Ham supporters scratching their heads. Pellegrini immediately proved his questioners wrong as Obiang’s shot off the post rebounded to Perez who was all alone to slot the ball home.
I was a doubter after the subs were made but I am now happily wrong as it stands. Moments after the two subs came together for their first goal, Obiang played Perez in past the Leicester defenders on a rather clear onside play. Perez dribbled past Kasper Schmeichel and slotted the ball home but the flag was up. It didn’t look offside live, and once replayed it clearly wasn’t. West Ham were robbed again by awful officiating.
Let’s move past the sob story, because for the second week in a row, the Hammers were dominant.
Michail Antonio’s goal, assisted by a looping Mark Noble cross, highlighted a connection reminiscent of the final season at the Boleyn. It was amazing to see Antonio central and scoring with his head on a Noble cross. Both players showed up for this match and it appears that the old Michail Antonio could be back for West Ham.
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West Ham’s second goal scorer was the often criticized but unexpectedly potent Lucas Perez. His goal late in the second half (and ruled out goal) show that the Spaniard has something to offer for the Hammers. He must have earned some extra playing time after his performance today. He came off the bench and looked a threat to make an impact immediately. West Ham supporters were loudly showing appreciation for his hunger to chase down balls and make life difficult for Leicester.
The two goals against were, as mentioned above, two of the very few errors the Irons made capitalized on by the Foxes. The first was a sneaky undercutting of Fabian Balbuena by Jamie Vardy. Balbuena needed to be more attentive and position himself better around Vardy but his momentary lapse was tipped in the net for the opener.
The second goal falls on Ogbonna. He was terrific in this match but didn’t seem to get the memo about protecting the lead as the game clock was in extra time. After pushing forward to chase Tielemans out of the box, Harvey Barnes ran into the open space and slotted home his first Premier League goal. It was one of the very few bonehead plays Ogbonna has been guilty of as of late.
West Ham need to continue their form next match week against Tottenham Hotspur. The Irons also need to improve on taking their chances and closing out games to ensure that referees can’t rob them of any more points.