Jesse Lingard continued his stunning form with West Ham by scoring twice in the first half to set the Hammers on course for a crucial victory over fellow Champions League hopefuls Leicester City.
The two sides came into the weekend occupying the last two Champions League spots, before wins for Chelsea and Liverpool on Saturday nudged West Ham down to sixth place.
But David Moyes’ men showed they are up for the challenge of qualifying for Europe’s top club competition for the first time, climbing back into fourth after going 3-0 up against Leicester, who had the hosts hanging on after a late rally.
The Hammers took the lead as Arthur Masuaku’s cross went through to right-back Vladimir Coufal, who cut back for Lingard to sweep the ball inside Kasper Schmeichel’s near post from the edge of the box.
Jarrod Bowen then beat the offside trap to race on to Issa Diop’s long ball and square for Lingard to tap into an empty net for his eighth goal in nine Premier League games since arriving on loan from Manchester United.
The 28-year-old forward, whose recent form earned him an England recall, then played a part in West Ham’s third goal right after half-time as Bowen poked in from Tomas Soucek’s pass to round off a clinical team move.
Kelechi Iheanacho pulled a goal back to give Leicester hope, before grabbing his 11th goal in 11 games in stoppage time, but the Hammers held on to ensure they did not surrender a 3-0 lead for the second straight home game and move within a point of third-placed Leicester.
More to follow.
Line-ups
West Ham
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Fabianski
- 5Coufal
- 23Diop
- 15Dawson
- 3CresswellBooked at 30minsSubstituted forBalbuenaat 53′minutes
- 16NobleSubstituted forJohnsonat 82′minutes
- 28SoucekBooked at 10mins
- 18Fornals
- 11Lingard
- 26MasuakuBooked at 90mins
- 20BowenSubstituted forBenrahmaat 84′minutes
Substitutes
- 4Balbuena
- 9Benrahma
- 14Alves
- 24Fredericks
- 25Martin
- 31Johnson
- 34Trott
- 45Odubeko
- 54Coventry
Leicester
Formation 3-4-1-2
- 1Schmeichel
- 18AmarteySubstituted forThomasat 45′minutes
- 6Evans
- 3FofanaBooked at 45mins
- 21Ricardo PereiraBooked at 33mins
- 8Tielemans
- 25NdidiBooked at 46mins
- 27Castagne
- 26PraetSubstituted forAlbrightonat 59′minutes
- 14Iheanacho
- 9Vardy
Substitutes
- 11Albrighton
- 12Ward
- 24Mendy
- 28Fuchs
- 33Thomas
- 38Leshabela
- 46Daley-Campbell
- 50Tavares
- 64Suengchitthawon
Live Text
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Match ends, West Ham United 3, Leicester City 2.
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Second Half ends, West Ham United 3, Leicester City 2.
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Attempt missed. Wesley Fofana (Leicester City) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Jamie Vardy with a cross following a corner.
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Corner, Leicester City. Conceded by Ben Johnson.
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Attempt blocked. Timothy Castagne (Leicester City) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Marc Albrighton.
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Attempt missed. Wesley Fofana (Leicester City) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Youri Tielemans with a cross following a corner.
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Corner, Leicester City. Conceded by Vladimir Coufal.
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Attempt missed. Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Marc Albrighton with a cross.
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Arthur Masuaku (West Ham United) is shown the yellow card.
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Goal! West Ham United 3, Leicester City 2. Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner.
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Corner, Leicester City. Conceded by Issa Diop.
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Attempt blocked. Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Kelechi Iheanacho.
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Substitution, West Ham United. Saïd Benrahma replaces Jarrod Bowen.
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Corner, Leicester City. Conceded by Arthur Masuaku.
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Substitution, West Ham United. Ben Johnson replaces Mark Noble because of an injury.
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Corner, Leicester City. Conceded by Mark Noble.
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Attempt blocked. Youri Tielemans (Leicester City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Ricardo Pereira.
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Attempt blocked. Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Marc Albrighton.
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Foul by Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City).
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Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
