West Ham 1-2 Leicester: Foxes make it two wins from two

Sunday 16 August 2015 08:47, UK

Leicester maintained their 100 per cent start to the new Premier League season by beating West Ham 2-1 at Upton Park on Saturday.

Shinji Okazaki opened the scoring for the Foxes midway through the first-half before Riyad Mahrez doubled their advantage with a superbly-taken strike.

Dimitri Payet reduced the Hammers' arrears just after the interval, but was unable to spark a comeback as the visitors hung on for their first victory at Upton Park in 15 years.

The hosts were reduced to 10 men in stoppage time, with referee Anthony Taylor brandishing a red card to goalkeeper Adrian for a high challenge on Jamie Vardy.

Leicester, victorious on the opening day against Sunderland, move above Manchester United and to the top of the early Premier League table on goal difference.

West Ham were quickest to settle and were unlucky not to go in front inside the opening three minutes. A superb delivery from the left from summer signing Payet caused confusion in the Leicester defence, with Foxes captain Wes Morgan fortunate to see his inadvertent header cannon back off the crossbar and away to safety.

West Ham, fresh from their opening-day win at Arsenal, continued to look the most threatening of the sides, with Carl Jenkinson and Diafra Sakho both firing over as they went in search of the opening goal.

But against the run of play, it was the visitors who took the lead in the 27th minute. A great pass from the left from Vardy enabled Okazaki to breach the Hammers' backline and, after his initial shot was saved by Adrian, he made no mistake heading home the rebound.

Claudio Ranieri's side, quiet until then, grew in confidence and were soon two goals to the good thanks to excellent work from goalscorer Okazaki and Marc Albrighton.

The Japan striker, a summer signing from German club Mainz, held off the challenge of Winston Reid before feeding the ball to Albrighton. The winger's inch-perfect delivery was met by the incoming Mahrez and the Algeria international swept his effort past Adrian into the top corner of the net.

West Ham failed to get a single shot on target during the opening 45 minutes, but will consider themselves unlucky not to have received a penalty after Kasper Schmeichel hauled down Sakho in first-half stoppage time.

Slaven Bilic attempted to inject more purpose into his West Ham side at half-time and replaced 16-year-old Reece Oxford, a week after his sensational performance at the Emirates Stadium, with debutant Pedro Obiang.

It had the desired effect as Payet, West Ham's most impressive performer, dragged one goal back 10 minutes into the second half. After seeing his initial shot blocked, the France midfielder curled his second effort into the top corner of the net to give his side hope of a comeback.

West Ham continued to press forward in the hope of an equaliser, with their best chance falling to Sakho, but Schmeichel was equal to his close-range effort.

In his desperation to avoid defeat, Bilic sent forward Adrian for a corner in stoppage time. However, in his attempts to keep the ball in the penalty area, the Hammers goalkeeper caught Vardy with a high boot and was given his marching orders.

Player ratings

West Ham: Adrian (6), Jenkinson (5), Reid (5), Ogbonna (5), Cresswell (5), Oxford (4), Kouyate (5), Noble (5), Payet (7), Sakho (6), Zarate (5).

Used subs: Obiang (6), Maiga (5, Lanzini (6).

Leicester: Schmeichel (6), de Laet (6), Drinkwater (7), Morgan (7), Huth (7), Vardy (7), King (7), Albrighton (7), Schlupp (6), Okazaki (8), Mahrez (8).

Used subs: Kante (5), Fuchs (5) Benalouane (5).

Man of the match: Riyad Mahrez (Leicester).