Leicester win over struggling West Ham as Ruud Van Nistelrooy records a 3-1 promising start
Leicester City get off a bright start under their new manager Ruud van Nistelrooy with a convincing 3-1 win over West Ham to pile more misery on Julen Lopetegui.
Lopetegui, is not having it easy since named the Hammers boss.
His future is in doubts following his side 1-3 loss to the Foxes on Tuesday night.
According to Tim Sherwood on Soccer Special, reacting to the Foxes’ first goal:
“This is tight! The defender’s back foot may just have played him on. Goal! Four minutes later, they can celebrate.”
West Ham reacted immediately after one goal down through Danny Ings who saw his header deflected against the woodwork.
The Hammers continued to push on for an equalizer before the break but Leicester City.
Goalkeeper Mads Hermansen ensured that his team went into the break with the lead intact after making excellent five saves to deny the visitors.
Amidst persistent push and dominance from the visitors, Leicester got another goal through Bilal El Khannouss just in a few minutes after West Ham’s equaliser goal was chalked off for a foul.
In the build-up to the disallowed goal, Tomas Soucek was adjudged to be the culprit after blocking Hermasen before the bounced past Foxes’ keeper.
Leicester also had their third goal which was eventually ruled out.
They rallied back before the stoppage time to secure their third goal through Patson Daka to give their new manager Ruud van Nistelrooy a promising start to his managerial campaign.
Leicester Wins Over The Struggling Hammers
It Is A Frustrating Night For The Hammers
During the entire game, West Ham had total of thirty-one (31) shots. These were their highest shot tally an EPL match since 2005/06 season.
Stats also shows that is the highest shot tally by a losing away team in a Premier League match since November 2010 (Chelsea [32] vs Birmingham City).
Julen Lopetegui’s team have now lost eight times in the EPL this season.
The good news is that Niclas Fullfrug, who came from the bench to score a ninety-third minute consolation for the Hammers, will be hoped to resurrect West Ham’s disappointing season going forwards.
West Ham’s next EPL fixture is against Wolves on Monday.
Sherwood: Beginning of the end for Lopetegui
Skysports pundit Tim Sherwood sees the end in proximity for Lopetegui. He suggests that run of consecutive defeats is gradually bringing an end to Lopetegui’s West Ham reign.
Speaking on Soccer Special: “West Ham had better players on the bench than they did on the pitch.
l cannot believe how they set up defensively on the halfway line. It just made no sense.
“It was poor from West Ham but give Leicester credit. Personally, I think this is the beginning of the end for Lopetegui. You cannot capitulate like this.
They are dropping themselves onto the pitch like parachutists, landing wherever they please and playing from there.
“There is absolutely no structure to their play. The manager has got it all wrong.
“There are more questions than answers for Lopetegui. He has had a bad night.”
Lopetegui: We deserved much more
During a post-match media conference with Amazon Prime, Julen Lopetegui says they deserved a better result.
The stats from the game and their dominant performance strongly suggest that it is indeed true.
He said: “It’s a frustrating night as we deserved much more. Playing football is not easy.
“We had 31 shots in the opposition box, normally you have to win this match. We had many chances but did not score.
Tomorrow we will start looking for the next challenge, knowing we are able to change the situation.
”They want to win for them, for me and the club. Football is about the win.
“Today is a day where we deserved much more. The next will be the most important. we must concentrate.”
Van Nistelrooy: Now, We Can Look Ahead
During post-match media conference with Amazon Prime, Leicester City coach Ruud van Nistelrooy reacted to their emphatic win over West Ham United.
Dutchman commends his players for their outstanding performance.
He looks further to the next moments of action.
He said: “I think first and foremost we need to get some performance with energy, togetherness and spirit to get a connection with the crowd and I think they did that.
The foundation for us going forward is everybody working their socks off.
Fighting for every inch, everybody tackling and fighting for each other from there on we can look further. They did that in an unbelievable way.”
Leicester Wins Over The Struggling Hammers
Mixed Emotions During The Match
The two teams, on their terms, are at the opposite end of the spectrum as regard their emotions
For Leicester City, the victory from the match served as a positive introduction of their new manager.
Van Nistelrooy, as his side left no stone unturned converting their chances as he would ever want.
Howbeit, things continue to look worse by the day as West Ham United’s run of disappointing defeats continues.
Their victory over Newcastle United looked as a catalyst for the Hammers’ woes who usually look lost and bereft of ideas when under pressure.
While Leicester City can beat their chests and look ahead with optimism and enthusiasm for their next matches, Lopetegui and his team will probably be playing with their hearts in the mouth.
The Hammers’ next fixture comes on Monday against Wolves−Lopetegui’s former side.
The whole world will be waiting to see if the Hammers can come up with big performance.
Apparently, Lopetegui’s team, against Arsenal, struggled defensively all through the ninety minutes. Same cannot be said in their match against the Foxes as they struggled to convert or take their chances.
Despite Lopetegui fielding a new-look midfield against Leicester, the obvious issues within his team become clearer for everyone to see.
Player ratings:
Leicester: Hermansen (8), Justin (7), Vestergaard (7), Coady (8), Kristainsen (7), Ndidi (7), Soumare (7), El Khannouss (8), Buonanotte (6), McAteer (6), Vardy (9).
Subs: Faes (6), Daka (8), De Cordova-Reid (7).
West Ham: Fabianski (7), Wan-Bissaka (6), Mavropanos (5), Kilman (5), Coufal (5), Alvarez (6), Soucek (6), Soler (5), Kudus (7), Bowen (6); Ings (6).
Subs: Summerville (6), Antonio (6), Emerson (6), Paqueta (6), Fullkrug
Player of the match: Mads Hermansen (Leicester)
Leicester Win Over Struggling West Ham