Yahoo News Ayoze Perez strikes twice in demolition of West Ham but Leicester count the cost of Jamie Vardy's injury
Leicester’s fans were chanting with renewed vigour about European tours and not even a Jamie Vardy injury scare was going to take the gloss off a first home victory in seven weeks for Brendan Rodgers.
The curse for England forwards past and present appeared set to continue when Vardy, the Premier League’s leading scorer, gave Leicester a headache after limping off in clear discomfort late in the first half.
Clearing the ball with a huge hoof near the Leicester penalty area, Vardy pulled up and was taken off despite attempting to play on, providing Rodgers with more ammunition in his complaints over fixture congestion.
But Leicester still secured their first win in the league at the King Power Stadium since December 4, staying in third place and recovering after a recent slump in form to swat aside a desperately poor West Ham.
Vardy’s injury was also not as bad as first feared, with Rodgers confirming it was not a hamstring issue, so Leicester will be hopeful of him being available for the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg at Aston Villa on Tuesday.
Rodgers said: “It was just part of his glute and I don’t think he will be out for too long. It isn’t serious and not a hamstring injury.
“Hopefully over the next couple of days it will ease off and he will be fit. Jamie is a real talisman for the team but if we’re going to have success it is about the team.”
It is undoubtedly a sign of the growing expectation under Rodgers that the recent wobble had been scrutinised so intently. Before this game they had suffered four defeats in the last six games to fuel all manner of theories over the loss of form, including fatigue and the pressures of chasing down a place in the Champions League.
But they were dominant here for long periods, pressing with intensity and attacking from both flanks. There were many excellent performances, with Ayoze Perez scoring twice while Harvey Barnes, James Maddison and Ben Chilwell - returning after being excluded from the squad at Burnley last weekend - all impressed.
"I thought we played with that authority in the game and personality that the team has played with all season,” said Rodgers.
West Ham are peering nervously over their shoulders after a defeat which leaves them outside of the relegation zone on goal difference.
Despite a brief period of defiance early in the second half they were well beaten and manager David Moyes only needs to look at the forthcoming fixtures to realise this will be a daunting assignment. In three of their next four league games they face leaders Liverpool (twice) and Manchester City.
West Ham have also suffered two defeats against Leicester, with this latest one coming 25 days after the game when Manuel Pellegrini was sacked.
They endured a nightmarish first half and Leicester’s opening goal finally came in the 24th minute, after a sustained period of pressure. It was produced and finished by Barnes, with the winger finishing from close range after Ricardo Pereira’s cross into the six-yard box.
Leicester’s control of the game was temporarily broken before half-time when Nampalys Mendy, the midfielder, and Vardy were both taken off with injuries.
Yet Leicester quickly recovered, increasing their lead in first-half injury time. This time it was Pereira, hammering in a powerful low drive after being given far too much space in the area.
West Ham’s 2,107 travelling supporters, who did not take long to air their anti-board chants, booed their team off at the break.
Moyes introduced Michail Antonio and Pablo Fornals for the second half and there was an instant, albeit brief, improvement.
They were awarded a penalty three minutes in after a clumsy foul by Wilfred Ndidi on Sebastien Haller, who was running away from goal. Mark Noble’s spot-kick was clinical, a 27th successful penalty from 31 attempts.
But Leicester rediscovered their attacking impetus and claimed a third goal through Perez, with an 81st minute penalty, after Kelechi Iheanacho was fouled by Angelo Ogbonna.
Perez added the fourth two minutes from time with a crisp low finish to send West Ham’s fans streaming out of the stadium.
Moyes said: “I’m extremely disappointed, it was probably the worst I’ve seen us defensively, at times.
“When I was coming into the job I knew about the games coming up and it is a difficult month.
“This league always throws up surprises and we’ve got to be looking to cause one of those shocks. Every point we can pick up is going to be really important.”
Full time
Leicester have whacked West Ham United, playing some impressively slick attacking football, full-backs, Barnes, Perez and Maddison to the fore. West Ham have skilful players to burn but need more than the character of Antonio and Noble. They need some pace, a right-back and for Rice, who was poor, to find some decent form.
90+2 min: Leicester 4-1 West Ham
Four minutes of injury time begin with Brendan Rodgers beaming as West Ham go through the motions.
90 min: Leicester 4-1 West Ham
Leicester have been merciless around the box. West Ham turned up for half an hour but not long enough to match a very good home side.
GOAL!!!
Leicester 4-1 West Ham (Perez) Stringing about 25 passes together and pinging it around, controlling it immaculately, Tielemans, Ricardo, Iheanacho, Maddison and Perez team up to hypnotise the West Ham defence. Eventually after several probes and thrusts the ball is played back to Perez 14 yards out who fires a right-foot shot through the gap vacated by West Ham's exhausted defenders. They've been given a proper Mike Reid Runaround tonight.
84 min: Leicester 3-1 West Ham
Chilwell steals in up the left and thunders a low shot that Randolph saves with a parry. West Ham are back under the cosh.
83 min: Leicester 3-1 West Ham
Harvey Barnes, who has been the man of the match, is replaced by Wes Morgan.
GOAL!!!
Leicester 3-1 West Ham (Perez, pen) Buried it high to the keeper's left as Randolph dived the other way.
Leicester penalty
Ogbonna has his arm on Iheanacho's shoulder when Leicester break quickly following Lanzini's useless corner which was arrowed down Schmeichel's throat.
80 min: Leicester 2-1 West Ham
Antonio reaches the byline by sheer pace and endeavour and beats Ricardo as he races up the whitewash but Evans gets hos toe to it as he pulled it back for Haller.
77min: Leicester 2-1 West Ham
This referee, David Coote, keeps penalising West Ham for entirely non-existent fouls. When he eventually gives one in their favour, the visiting fans whelp their scorn.
76 min: Leicester 2-1 West Ham
Maddison plays a one-two with Barnes, runs on to the return by the edge of the D and arcs a right-foot shot towards the top bin. Randolph soars to tip it behind. From Maddison's corner Randolph saves with his feet when Maddison was played back down the right by Soyuncu and was within inches of setting up Iheanacho for a tap-in.
74 min: Leicester 2-1 West Ham
Back come Leicester after being given a free-kick they shouldn't for Antonio's non-existent shove. Again Ricardo finds Barnes' run into the box and his shot from 15 yards is bravely blocked out for a corner.
71 min: Leicester 2-1 West Ham
West Ham defend the corner comfortably.
69 min: Leicester 2-1 West Ham
City find the fluency of the first-half, opening the left-side of West Ham's defence with a scalpel's precision. Quick, one-touch passing frees Ricardo who centres low for Perez. It's just behind him but he still catches his shot crisply. Randolph pushes it behind.
67 min: Leicester 2-1 West Ham
Cresswell hoops it beyond the far post and Leicester head it out for another corner from the other side. Lanzini takes an inswinger and sticks it on Ogbonna's head. The header flies over the bar but the referee deems either Haller or Antonio were fouling Soyuncu or Schmeichel respectively.
66 min: Leicester 2-1 West Ham
Nobles's cross is blocked by Ndidi as they try to turn the screw for the equaliser. Zabaleta gallops down the right from the throw-in but hasn't the legs to beat Barnes so cannily wins a corner off him instead.
63 min: Leicester 2-1 West Ham
Declan Rice trips Maddison having been caught out of position by Tielemans pass. Robbie Savage isn't impressed by Rice and has been riding him all match.
61 min: Leicester 2-1 West Ham
The rocket that David Moyes placed up 11 fundaments at half-time has worked wonders. West Ham, teeth bared, earn another corner due to tenacity and new-found confidence. Cresswell arcs it to the back post where Antonio, back to goal, improvises a backheel that Leicester scramble clear. They've certainly rattled Leicester since the break.
58 min: Leicester 2-1 West Ham
Cresswell chips the ball 40 yards to the right of the box to Haller whose first-time cross is blocked out for a corner that Leicester repel easily, winning the first header then flooding forward to clear their lines.
56 min: Leicester 2-1 West Ham
Delay while Ogbonna receives treatment before a West Ham free-kick.
54 min: Leicester 2-1 West Ham
Leicester break again like the wind, Chilwell carries it forward and is fouled on the edge of the area by Diop. The ref either doesn't give it or plays advantage, the ball runs across to Tielemans who flashes a right-foot piledriver wide.
52 min: Leicester 2-1 West Ham
Barnes goes down in the West Ham box but Zabaleta's tackle was well-timed and even knocked the ball into Barnes' knee and out for a goalkick.
50 min: Leicester 2-1 West Ham
Different West Ham so far this half. Antonio is a genuine tonic as a footballer, busting his ... guts to chase and harry. He has set a lead the others are following.
GOAL!!
Leicester 2-1 West Ham (Noble, pen)Straight down the middle. Game on.
48 min: Leicester 2-0 West Ham
Ndidi catches Haller with his arm and concedes the free-kick. Lanzini whips in the cross, Schmeichel punches and as Haller and Ndidi go for the ball at the edge of the area, Nididi catches the centre-forward. The ref awards a penalty and VAR take a look. The delay is ridiculous but at last the penalty is confirmed. Noble will take.
46 min: Leicester 2-0 West Ham
Two half-time substitutions: Fornals and Antonio replace Snodgrass and Masuaku for West Ham who switch to 4-2-3-1. And within 30 seconds of the kick-off West Ham pour forward in pursuit of a long punt, hoping to feast on the second ball. Antonio is first to the knockdown and smashes a shot over the bar.
Half-time: Leicester 2-0 West Ham
Zabaleta is something of a liability as a wing-back. Triangles up the Leicester left pull the West Ham defence out of position, Barnes picks out Ricardo with a sensational cross and the right-back, with a magnificent 'arrive' as Ron Atkinson used to call such runs, meets it sweetly with his laces, harpooning an unstoppable low shot on the run, so that both feet are off the ground, past Randolph. Ricardo set up Barnes' goal - Barnes pays him back in kind.
Leicester have lost half their spine - defensive midfielder and centre-forward to hamstring injuries. West Ham don't appear to have one. They've been truly terrible, plodding and tentative and while Leicester have been far from their best, West Ham can't live with their pace and movement. The visitors are playing black and white football in an Ultra-HD world.
GOAL!!!
Leicester 2-0 West Ham (Ricardo)
45+3 min Leicester 1-0 West Ham
Leicester defend the short corner, gobbling up Haller's upwards header and refusing to allow West Ham to feed on the scraps. They break like greyhounds through Barnes who is only stopped by a fantastic sliding tackle from Cresswell.
45+2 min Leicester 1-0 West Ham
A spark from West Ham when Masuaku sprints past Ricardo but takes one touch too many before crossing, settling for a corner rather than a direct assault on goal.
45+1 min Leicester 1-0 West Ham
The first of four minutes of injury time continues in the pattern of the match - West Ham under the cosh and Leicester, not needing to be anywhere close to their best, hogging the ball.
44 min Leicester 1-0 West Ham
Leicester substitution: Vardy leaves and on comes Iheanacho. Ricardo again scampers down the right. He keeps getting behind Masuaku. This time he tries to stand up a cross to the far post rather than whipping it. More chip than drive. Ogbonna boards his invisible pogo stick to head it away.
42 min Leicester 1-0 West Ham
After treatment Vardy jogs back on. Very odd indeed. A twinge rather than a twang? No. Down he goes again kneading his left buttock before he came to earth.
40 min Leicester 1-0 West Ham
Jamie Vardy volleys a clearance and his hamstring twangs. Down he goes holding his left thigh as if hit by a frozen pea dispatched by a catapult. The crowd falls silent. The curse of the English striker hits. Iheanacho takes off his tracksuit top.
37 min Leicester 1-0 West Ham
Zabaleta is turned inside out by Barnes who plays in Vardy for the cross that Ogbonna blocks. West Ham knock it up to Haller but Soyuncu nips ahead of the napping Switzerland striker to steal it back.
35 min Leicester 1-0 West Ham
Crucial interception by Ogbonna when Leicester's hares bomb forward with frightening pace but Ricardo, who was found by a long pass up the right, scuds his cross straight into the West Ham centre-back's feet.
33 min Leicester 1-0 West Ham
Leicester substitution: Mendy exits, Ndidi makes his comeback, 14 days after knee surgery. He receives a rousing welcome.
31 min Leicester 1-0 West Ham
West Ham corner after Lanzini runs in behind Chilwell on to Ogbonna's long pass. Zabaleta takes it to the touchline and plays rebounder off the left-back's shins as he didn't have a trcik or the pace to beat him. Snodgrass fizzes torpedoes it under the crossbar again but Schmeichel gathers bravely and securely. Mendy goes down after the corner clutching his lower left thigh after colliding with Haller. Ndidi is warming up and takes off his bib when Mendy limps off.
29 min Leicester 1-0 West Ham
The West Ham physio makes the rolling hand substitution mime and confirms via his collar mic. Fornals strips and is given his instructions but Snodgrass then begs for a chance to run it off and trots gingerly back on to the field.
27 min Leicester 1-0 West Ham
Snodgrass is injured, he falls to the ground clutching his left kneecap.
25 min Leicester 1-0 West Ham
Slick passing move pays off with Barnes feeding Ricardo on the right of the box and then following in with a back-post run to tap it in when Ricardo skelps a daisycutter cross diagonally through the six-yard box.
Yes it does
GOAL!!!????
Leicester 1-0 West Ham (Barnes) Was he onside?
23 min Leicester 0-0 West Ham
The referee wrongly condemns Lanzini for a handball that did not exist. Free-kick for Leicester in their own box.
21 min Leicester 0-0 West Ham
West Ham win the ball but have no speed merchants to exploit their advantage. Haller plods into Evans and fouls him rather than breaking past him. Simply doesn't have the gas.
20 min Leicester 0-0 West Ham
Maddison has a free-kick on the left touchline, 30 yards from goal. He whips an inswinger towards the penalty spot where Cresswell leaps to head it clear.
18 min Leicester 0-0 West Ham
Leicester look as menacing as ever in the space between the wing-backs and the wider two of the three centre-backs. But Ogbonna has dealt well with any crosses and so has Randolph.
16 min Leicester 0-0 West Ham
West Ham break up the right, Zabaleta makes a run that takes Chilwell with him, giving Snodgrass a chink of space to shoot with his left. It clips Tielemans and balloons out for a corner. Snodgrass whips it under the crossbar with his wand of a left-foot but Schmeichel comes for it and his defenders make sure they scramble it away.
13 min Leicester 0-0 West Ham
West Ham just can't retain possession for more than 10 seconds. They're getting steamrollered here - a suggestion that Ogbonna manhandled Vardy in the box but neither the ref nor VAR intervened. Leicester work it out to Pereira on the right of the box, played in by a cute chest pass. But he cuts his right foot across the ball and slices it with the outside of his boot miles wide.
11 min Leicester 0-0 West Ham
All one-way so far and Leicester have a free-kick 35 yards out when Rice clumps Perez. Maddiosn takes it, curling it over the high defensive line but West Ham track back under the ball to clear it.
9 min Leicester 0-0 West Ham
Diop booms a header back upfield from Evans' long pass for a throw-in. Leicester slip Vardy down the left. From hanging on Diop's shoulder he burns past him but his team-mates were not so prescient and only Perez made a supporting run into the box. Vardy's cross can't pick him out.
7 min Leicester 0-0 West Ham
Chilwell keeps coming at West Ham up the left, showing his dedication and commitment after being dropped for an infringement of the players' code. Short inter-passing with Maddison almost breaks through but the latter strayed offside. Thirty seconds later they combine again to win a corner that comes to naught.
5 min Leicester 0-0 West Ham
West Ham are being blitzed in terms of forward runs - Chilwell dribbles 40 yards up the left, shifts it up to Maddison who opens his body to lay it off to Vardy in the box. The ball is slightly behind Vaardy and he has to stretch to reach it, taking the power out of his shot that is struck straight at Randolph.
3 min Leicester 0-0 West Ham
Chilwell goes for a cavort up the left until his path to goal is closed by Ogbonna. He recycles backwards to Mendy who switches it over to Ricardo. They're pinning West Ham in deep but Cresswell squeezes the space and force Leicester to switch flanks again.
1 min Leicester 0-0 West Ham
City kick off, Vardy to Mendy and back to Soyuncu before knocking it up the right. West Ham intercept and Leicester regroup with thrusts up left and right, Ricardo feeding it inside to Perez lurking between the Hammers' midfield and defence. His pass, intended for Maddison, is misplaced.
Out come the players
Mark Noble and Kasper Schmeichel lead their teams out to the sound of the Foxes' hunting horns, which I've always thought slightly inappropriate, signalling the imminent death not the victory of said vulpes vulpes.
For those of you watching in black and white
Leicester Schmeichel; Ricardo Pereira, Evans, Soyuncu, Chilwell; Mendy; Perez, Tielemans, Maddison, Barnes; Vardy.
Substitutes Ward, Justin, Morgan, Gray, Albrighton, Ndidi, Iheanacho.
West Ham Randolph; Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Zabaleta, Rice, Noble, Masuaku; Snodgrass, Lanzini; Haller.
Substitutes Martin, Reid, Balbuena, Sanchez, Fornals, Ajeti, Antonio.
Referee David Coote (Nottinghamshire)
Looks like 3-4-2-1 for West Ham again
As Masuaku replaces Fornals in the starting XI.
Here's how we line up for #LEIWHUpic.twitter.com/3topHrnKdH
— West Ham United (@WestHam) January 22, 2020
Ndidi on the bench
Here's your #lcfc 1️⃣1️⃣ to play West Ham - sponsored by @eToro ��
— Leicester City (@LCFC) January 22, 2020
Tielemans and Chilwell return to the starting XI.
Subs: Ward, Justin, Morgan, Ndidi, Albrighton, Gray, Iheanacho.#LeiWhu
— Leicester City (@LCFC) January 22, 2020
Good evening
Leicester City have killed off one West Ham manager already this season when their 2-1 victory at the London Stadium 25 days ago finally did for Manuel Pellegrini, the only title-winning manager the Hammers have ever employed. The three points allowed City to tighten their grip on second place after back-to-back defeats by Liverpool and Manchester City and for admirers of Brendan Rodgers to sing his praises, an opportunity for which they need no second invitation.
Since then Leicester have beaten an injury-stricken Newcastle but have looked, since Wilfred Ndidi was injured in the FA Cup against Wigan, unbalanced and fragile in his absence during the draw with Villa in the League Cup semi and alarming defeats by Southampton and Burnley. Never fret, though, because he is risen. Wilf has made a miraculous recovery from surgery and is in contention to make his return tonight when victory would narrow the gap to City in second to three points and to Liverp … forget about it. They’re over the hill and far away.
As for West Ham, the second coming of David Moyes has brought yer Actual West Ham a win, a defeat and a draw, marmalising Bournemouth, deserving at least a point at Bramall Lane were it not for the ridiculous changes to the handball law and battling for a point in a turgid match with Everton last weekend. They’re a team in desperate need of a vision, an idea of who they are since they abandoned the Boleyn, some identity on and off the pitch to rally round instead of this strange, neutered squad, assembled seemingly incoherently at the behest of Slaven Bilic and the Pilgrim, subsisting in limbo. Moyes once rescued Everton in their Rag A--- Rovers days of penury with his ‘People’s Club’ call to arms, shrewd recruitment and the magnificent inheritance of Wayne Rooney.
It was a long time ago and his task is much more difficult now. Saving a club level on points with 18th-placed Bournemouth (albeit with two games in hand) from relegation is a tough ask. Defining what West Ham stand for, making them a cause again, to heal the sense of physical and psychological dislocation would make Hercules' to-do list look like a doddle.
