**Leicester City 3-1 West Ham United**
**Premier League, King Power Stadium, Tuesday 3 December 2024, 8.15pm GMT**
West Ham United endured a night of frustration as they fell to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Leicester City in the hosts' first match under the stewardship of new manager Ruud van Nistelrooy.
The Foxes got off to a flying start at King Power Stadium, going ahead thanks to a second-minute goal from Jamie Vardy, which was eventually given after a lengthy VAR check.
Despite West Ham creating multiple goal attempts, shots on target and corners for the first hour of the game, out of nowhere, Bilal El Khannouss struck to seize control for the Foxes.
Patson Daka’s third in stoppage time put gloss on the scoreline, and though visiting substitute Niclas Füllkrug netted a consolation - his first in Claret and Blue on his first appearance since August - it couldn't dampen the home side’s evening.
Had Dutch boss van Nistelrooy dreamed of the perfect start to his tenure in the East Midlands when he fell to sleep last night, he could scarcely have hoped for anything better than the move which led to Vardy’s opening goal shortly after the first whistle.
El Khannouss ran the ball from inside the Foxes' half, producing a defence-splitting pass to play in Vardy. With plenty of room for back lift, the striker slotted the ball delicately into the bottom corner, with the goal awarded after the aforementioned check upstairs for offside.
With West Ham still licking their wounds, Leicester, tails up, poured forward and almost doubled their advantage just two minutes later. Vardy raced in behind the Hammers’ defence and charged towards goal, only to be denied by a fine Łukasz Fabiański save.
Leicester had enjoyed the early exchanges, with their new manager bounce showing as Julen Lopetegui’s men gradually began to find their feet.
The next big chance would fall our way though. After Mohammed Kudus headed wide from a Vladimír Coufal delivery and Mads Hermansen tipped a vicious, swirling Jarrod Bowen effort around the post, we should really have levelled.
Bowen, teed up by Edson Álvarez, curled a first-time cross to the back post and Danny Ings leapt above his marker, but saw his effort crash off the bar.
Lopetegui’s team kept pushing and probing in search of an equaliser, with another free-flowing move seeing a close-range Bowen effort saved by the outstretched legs of Hermansen.
Tomáš Souček was next to have an attempt, but his header flew wide. The lively Kudus was then given a clear run at goal, before passing to Bowen. His shot, which looked destined to find the target, landed a yard wide of the far post.
As half-time approached, the Hammers fashioned a string of half-chances. Carlos Soler saw a shot blocked, Bowen’s first-time effort forced Hermansen into a low save to his left and Souček could only guide his effort off target.
The one-sided nature of the first 45 minutes continued into the second. Vardy had a sight of goal in the 50th minute in a rare foray forward for Leicester, but he could only head over from Facundo Buonanotte’s cross.
West Ham were soon back on the offensive, though, and were denied what looked to be a clear penalty when the ball appeared to have struck the arm of Wilfried Ndidi, an incident which was checked and somehow cleared by the Video Assistant Referee. Souček had the goal in the net soon after, but the goal was ruled out for a foul in the build-up by the Czech.
The fear was that the Irons could come to rue those missed opportunities and, out of nowhere, the Foxes doubled their lead on 61 minutes as Kasey McAteer pulled the ball back for El Khannouss who, on the slide, fired into the bottom corner beyond Fabiański.
At the other end, a looping header from substitute Lucas Paquetá was just too high, before Crysencio Summerville’s effort from Bowen’s cut-back was remarkably cleared off the line by Conor Coady.
For all West Ham’s pressure, it was Leicester who next had the ball in the net. Buonanotte teed the ball up for Patson Daka, whose shot was saved, but only as far as Bobby De Cordova-Reid, who tapped home into an empty net. However, the celebrations were curtailed by an offside flag against Buonanotte, a tight decision backed up after another lengthy VAR check.
However, VAR couldn’t save the Hammers nine minutes later, with a goal that was far too simple in its execution, from a West Ham perspective. It was all Daka's own work as he charged down the left channel beyond Maximilian Kilman, before blasting the ball into the roof of the net.
One positive on a night of disappointment was substitute Füllkrug’s first West Ham goal, as he headed home in stoppage time to net a consolation.
**Leicester City:** Hermansen, Justin, Coady, Vestergaard (Faes 60), Kristiansen, Ndidi, Soumaré, McAteer (Mavididi 74), El Khannouss (De Cordova Reid 74), Buonanotte (Ayew 90+1), Vardy © (Daka 60)
Subs not used: Ward (GK), Okoli, Skipp, Thomas
Goals: Vardy 2, El Khannouss 61, Daka 90
Booked: Soumaré, Vardy
**West Ham United:** Fabiański, Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Kilman, Coufal (Emerson 62), Soler (Paquetá 62), Souček (Antonio 62), Álvarez, Kudus (Füllkrug 79), Bowen ©, Ings (Summerville 46)
Subs not used: Foderingham (GK), Casey, Rodríguez, Luis Guilherme
Goal: Füllkrug 90+3
Booked: Coufal, Álvarez
**Referee:** Josh Smith
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