West Ham too good for Leicester in thumping win

West Ham made it back to back wins in the Premier League after a brilliant performance against Leicester City.

West Ham Team News

Once again West Ham were without David Moyes, Issa Diop and Josh Cullen. The trio is still in self-isolation following their positive COVID-19 tests. The club will be hoping they can leave quarantine soon and integrate them back into the squad.

There where eight changes from the side that was beaten by Everton in the League Cup. There was, however, only one change from the team that thrashed Wolves last Sunday evening. Vladimir Coufal made his debut, despite only signing for the club on Friday.

Ryan Fredericks damaged his hamstring against Wolves and could be missing for the next five weeks. It was this injury that led to the signing and selection of Coufal.

MATCH REPORT: FIRST-HALF

The match started with midfield battle as both teams tried to assert themselves. West Ham were the ones to win the early contest. Michail Antonio was fouled forty-yards-out and quickly switched the ball to the other wing.

Aaron Cresswell picked up the ball and sent in a beautiful cross from deep. Antonio had made up the distance from the free-kick and headed the cross past Kasper Schmeichel. That goal was Antonio’s tenth in his last eleven Premier League appearances.

18 - No player has scored more headed goals in the @PremierLeague than Michail Antonio since he made his debut in the competition in September 2015. Bonce #LEIWHU pic.twitter.com/DOexuyt8gD
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 4, 2020

Leicester City did try to get straight back, but the Hammers defence were able to keep them at bay. Debutant Coufal and Angelo Ogbonna both put in crucial defensive actions to protect the clean sheet.

West Ham doubled their lead on the 34th minute. Cresswell played an ambitious through ball and Pablo Fornals broke through the offside trap. The Spaniard in acres of space bared down on goal and finished ruthlessly past Schmeichel.

West Ham United’s Spanish midfielder Pablo Fornals (L) scores the second goal during the English Premier League football match between Leicester City and West Ham United. (Photo by ALEX PANTLING/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

The Hammers had their tails up and were pushing for a third to kill the game before half-time. Jarrod Bowen was causing all sorts of problems from the right, but the Foxes were able to keep his crosses away from Antonio.

Leicester still looked dangerous on the attack as the game started to go from end-to-end. The Hammers defence was still shaky but stood firm. Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek were doing a brilliant job shielding the defence.

SECOND HALF

Leicester should have got themselves a goal only twenty seconds after the restart. Jamie Vardy battled with Ogbonna leading the ball to run to Lukasz Fabianksi to clear. The keeper’s clearance was scuffed straight to Harvey Barnes. Despite his recent England call-up, the forward sliced his volley high and wide.

More from Green Street Hammers - West Ham

The Foxes were forced into their first substitution of the match. Daniel Amartey was forced off with an injury. Brendon Rogers replaced the defender with winger Cengiz Ünder. It was Ünder’s Leicester debut since his move from Roma.

The change did little to turn the tide as the Hammers almost scored their third. Antonio was unleashed down the right-wing, and his low cross found Fornals. Johnny Evans well blocked the 24-year-olds first-time shot.

West Ham were playing the game brilliantly. Leicester’s attack was seemingly nullified, and the Hammers looked very dangerous on the counter-attack. Rogers made another attacking substitution to try and change things. Kelechi Iheanacho came on for Ayoze Perez.

It should have been three for West Ham in the 71st minute. Rice picked up the ball and ran half the pitch completely unchallenged. The Englishman hit a thunderous effort against the crossbar and was unlucky it didn’t cannon into the goal.

Leicester did start to put the Hammers under a siege of pressure as they tried to find a way back into the match. West Ham, however, stood firm in a wall of claret and blue. Ogbonna, Fabian Balbuena and Cresswell were having one of the best games as a defensive unit.

Despite the siege from the Foxes, it was West Ham who scored the third goal in the 82nd minute. Fornals threaded a perfect through-ball to Bowen. The former Hull man cooly slotted past Schmeichel to wrap up the points for West Ham.

LEICESTER, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 04: Jarrod Bowen of West Ham scores his sides third goal during the Premier League match between Leicester City and West Ham United at The King Power Stadium on October 04, 2020 in Leicester, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Alan Irvine made his first changes of the match after the third goal. Mark Noble and Sebastien Haller replaced the excellent duo of Bowen and Antonio.

Leicester thought they got a late goal. It was a brilliant passing move between Vardy and Barnes. The winger finished emphatically, only for the goal to ruled out by VAR for a Vardy offside.

The game ended a minute later, meaning West Ham have won back to back Premier League games against Wolves and Leicester City. The Hammers have also managed tow clean sheets in a row and have scored seven goals.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Angelo Ogbonna

Despite the brilliant attacking display from West Ham, the win belongs to Ogbonna. The Italian celebrated his international recall with a brilliant defensive performance.

Who was your Man of the Match? Let us know in the comments or on our social media channels.