Leicester slump from heroes to zeroes as West Ham give homebound David Moyes reason to cheer

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Louise Thomas

Editor

As many of us struggle to work from home, David Moyes seems to have cracked it. With Alan Irvine and Kevin Nolan as his touchline surrogates, assisted by Stuart Pearce with an ear-piece in the stands, West Ham United have now seen off two accomplished sides in succession, scoring seven and conceding none in the process.

Having tested positive for Covid-19 a couple of weeks ago, rest has been the prescribed remedy for Moyes. But a 4-0 win over Wolves at home followed by turning over Leicester City 0-3 here at the King Power Stadium, dashing the Foxes' 100 per cent start in demoralising fashion, will no doubt boost his mood if not directly his health. 

Each of West Ham’s hard-working front three were rewarded with a goal to their names: Michail Antonio and Pablo Fornals registering in the first-half, before Jarrod Bowen killed the game deep in the second. The scoreline, while accurately reflecting Leicester's threat, still managed to flatter them. It should have been much worse.

One of football’s many cardinal sins is toppling Goliath one week and falling to David the next. And though Moyes was not here in person, he will reflect on a plan well-executed, catching Brendan Rodgers's side still basking in the glow of last week’s 5-2 victory over Manchester City. West Ham's set-up, effective in their own surprise victory over Wolves, included new signing Vladimir Coufal as the right-sided wing-back in a 5-3-2 that, as far as counters on a board were concerned, mimicked the hosts’s system.

Rodgers threw in an attacking tweak with Ayoze Perez replacing Denis Praet, not that you would have noticed. James Maddison, who started last week on the bench, was not in the squad here, though because of a calf injury sustained in training rather than a last-ditch move in the transfer window as the rumours would have you believe - even though he signed a new four-year at the end of August.

The expectation that Leicester would see more of the ball than the 28.3 per cent they managed at the Etihad came to fruition. But after 35 minutes, here was another lesson in doing more with less. Ball poor but shot rich, West Ham had already established a 2-0 lead.

Both were simple goals, though the first, after 14 minutes, carried beauty in its simplicity. Antonio, fouled for a free-kick on the right, spread the ball immediately towards the other flank where it was picked up by Aaron Creswell. The ball-carrying centre-half formerly known as a left back then whipped a deep arching cross over the Leicester defence to complete a one-two off the head of Antonio and into the far corner for his 10th goal in his last 11 games.

The second, provided by the same source, was more agricultural: a volleyed clearance trapped out of the overcast skies by Fornals, who drove to goal and flashed a left-footed effort past Kasper Schmeichel at the near post. With that, Cresswell had two assists in one half after 36 previous league appearances without one.

There was no bucking of the trend in the second-half, even if it did start with Harvey Barnes volleying a Lukasz Fabianski clearance high and wide for what was only Leicester’s second shot of the match. 

Antonio headed straight at Schmeichel and later, as the midfield became a blur, Declan Rice carried the ball all of 60 yards and cracked the underside of the bar. But such was West Ham’s resoluteness at the back, helmed by Angelo Ogbonna, these opportunities spurned never felt like they would be rued.

That, in particular, was a damning indictment of a team who want to be part of the top four’s six, and a nudge towards the statistic that five of Leicester’s 12 goals this season have been penalties. It did not help matters that when Jamie Vardy did get his only sniff of goal on 90 minutes, he lifted the ball over Fabianksi but wide of the far post.

It was a situation reminiscent of West Ham’s third, a mirror-image of the open-body finish required by Bowen to beat Schmeichel having been put through by Fornals. And further salt was rubbed in Leicester’s wounds when a series of crisp give-and-goes led Barnes to a consolation goal was ruled out for offside by VAR.

It meant they would end the match without registering a single shot on target, and Rodgers will wonder how the same group of players so clinical a week ago were so sluggish against weaker opposition. He will go into the two-week international break not wanting to stew on this result. Meanwhile, after two wins following two defeats, the only ailments Moyes has to focus on now are his own.