West Ham beat Premier League strugglers Leicester City who are yet to have consecutive wins or draws in their recent games 2-0 at the London Stadium on Thursday thanks to a early strike from Tomas Soucek who was marking his 30th birthday and an own goal just before half-time.
The visitors’ defensive frailties were exploited by the home side as both goals resulted from failed clearances, Soucek spurring in from close range in the 21st minute and a shot from captain Jarrod Bowen being deflected unfortunately in by Jannik Vestergaard.
It was a second consecutive victory for West Ham under manager Graham Potter after a surprise 1-0 win at Arsenal less than a week ago. An upturn in form after losing three and drawing one of their previous four games.
West Ham leapfrogged Everton into 15th place in the table and Leicester languishing firmly in the relegation zone in 19th, five points from safety.
It was the brilliance of Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek who are gradually becoming cult heroes at the hammers which gave West Ham victory over struggling Leicester City.
Leicester have now lost 11 of their last 12 league matches, mustering just two wins in Ruud van Nistelrooy’s 14 league games in charge.
They face a tough finish to the season with Chelsea, Manchester City Liverpool, Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest still to play.
West Ham played with intensity and intent in the first half, particularly down the right wing where Aaron Wan-Bissaka frequently tested Leicester left back Victor Kristiansten might and wit.
A Bowen-driven attack from the right forced a poor Leicester clearance, which was picked up by Aaron Cresswell and whipped in to Mohammed Kudus whose saved shot was pounced on by Soucek to score.
Leicester captain Jamie Vardy then failed to clear a corner at the near post in the 43rd minute, allowing Bowen to pick up the ball and find space to shoot through a flock of defenders from a tight angle.
It went down as a Vestergaard own goal despite Bowen’s celebrations after footage shows Vestergaard touch had a significant change in the direction of the ball.
Leicester had a bit more bite in the second half and West Ham spent much of it defending, but the visitors never seriously looked like scoring.
The Foxes have now conceded 12 times in their last four league games without a goal in reply, adding to the growing pressure on Van Nistelrooy.
It is worth knowing statistically that West Ham and Leicester have so far played played 31 matches, West Ham won 11 direct matches Leicester won 12 matches. 8 matches ended in a draw.
Indeed the games ahead would test the acumen of Leicester to know if they will still be at the top flight or would swim the dreaded water of relegation while the hammers fans would want this good form and fortune to continue as there are less than 11 games remaining before the league ends.
MATCH STATS
| WEST HAM | LEICESTER CITY |
POSSESSION
| 57.8%. | 42.2% |
SHOT ATTEMPTS
| 8 | 10 |
FOULS
| 12 | 6 |
YELLOW CARDS
| 0 | 0 |
RED CARDS
| 0 | 0 |
CORNER KICKS
| 3 | 3 |
SAVES
| 2 | 2 |
