Dawson header rescues West Ham a point against Leicester City

West Ham United secured a late point in an entertaining 2-2 draw with Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.

Jarrod Bowen’s opening strike was cancelled out by goals from Youri Tielemans and Ricardo Pereira but Craig Dawson struck late from a corner to keep the Hammers in the Champions League race.

Team news

West Ham were set to make just one change to the squad that beat Watford 1-0 at the London Stadium, with Manuel Lanzini coming in to replace Said Benrahma after making a good impact off the bench.

Kurt Zouma was meant to keep his place in the starting eleven despite pressure from the media but a late illness meant that Issa Diop started instead of his fellow countryman.

Brendan Rodgers made four changes to his side that lost 2-0 away at Anfield to his former side Liverpool with Ricardo Pereira, Çağlar Söyüncü, Tielemans and Harvey Barnes all made their starting returns.

Match Report

West Ham were quick off the blocks and struck Leicester back within the first 10 minutes after Issa Diop’s long ball from the back sent the in-form Jarrod Bowen through on goal. The former Hull ace had acres of space, kept his cool and slotted calmly past Kasper Schmeichel into the bottom left corner to score his seventh goal in as many games.

The Hammers took total control of the game from that point on and were looking much like the West Ham of 2021, keeping possession well and hardly giving their hosts a touch of the ball. The Foxes did manage to fashion themselves a half chance in the 21st minute when Patson Daka was sent through on the counter but Lukasz Fabianski was quick off his line to gather the ball.

This led to a decent spell from Leicester who racked up three corners in a row but failed to test Fabianski. The Foxes managed their first attempt on goal in the 38th minute after some good build up play on the right-hand side from Pereira and Tielemans. The Belgian played a good one-two with Pereira and was played into West Ham’s box, but the 24-year-olds shot went well wide.

The hosts were gifted a lifeline just before halftime when Aaron Cresswell was rightly judged to have cleared the ball with his arm following a corner. Tielemans stepped up and calmly slotted the ball into the bottom left corner, past an unfortunate Fabianski who had guessed correctly.

West Ham had a late chance to regain their lead before half time through Cresswell when the Hammers broke on the counter. Pablo Fornals was played down the left-hand side and cut the ball back across goal to the 31-year-old, but he was unable to redeem himself and scuffed his shot wide.

Cresswell’s chance was the last of the half and meant the sides went in level at the break. West Ham had been the better of the two teams but had failed to put Leicester out of sight. The Foxes had their moments and were increasingly growing into the game.

Leicester carried their momentum through to the second half and had an immediate chance through James Maddison. The ball fell to the 25-year-old at the back post but his wild first-time effort sailed spectacularly over the crossbar.

West Ham responded in the 50th minute with a great chance when Michail Antonio cut a ball back across the box for Bowen. The 25-year-old’s shot was goal bound but it was smartly blocked by Söyüncü.

It was end-to-end football with Leicester coming inches away from taking the lead in the game. Barnes entered the box on the left-hand side, beat Vladimir Coufal too easily and played a perfect ball across goal which was narrowly missed by Daka. The Foxes were in control and finally were rewarded when Barnes crossed a great ball into the back post which was powerfully headed home by Pereira in the 57th minute to give his side a 2-1 lead.

Leicester took complete control after taking the lead and had several half chances through Tielemans and Ademola Lookman but they failed to put West Ham to bed, despite the away side looking very lackluster. The Hammers were clearly struggling and were unable to create any opportunities against an energetic Leicester side.

Moyes made several late changes with Ryan Fredericks, Benrahma and Nikola Vlasic all coming on to try and rescue some points in the Champions League race but it was Dawson who swooped in late to rescue a point for the Hammers. West Ham won a late corner in the 91st minute and Dawson powered home his header from close range following an excellent ball from Bowen to make it 2-2 at the death.

The late goal once again exposed Leicester’s achilles heal at set pieces and meant that Moyes’ men return to the London Stadium with a valuable point.

While this is a point gained considering the circumstances, fans will undoubtedly be frustrated at dropping the other two points as well as the fact that the lack of new arrivals was very much clear once again on the pitch. West Ham just seemed to run out of steam in the second half and were lucky to get something from the game.

If the Hammers are to stay in the race for Champions League, then they can not afford to be dropping points after going ahead. Moyes should also be taking some responsibility as substitutes need longer than 10 minutes to change a game, it was evident that changes were needed but the Scotsman is very stubborn with his changes.

Results went in favour of Moyes’ side with Tottenham and Manchester United both dropping points, meaning the Hammers stay fourth and are now a point ahead of Ralf Rangnick’s Red Devils.

West Ham host a rejuvenated Newcastle side at the London Stadium next Saturday which will be a massive test of the Hammers’ mental strength in the battle for the top four.