Back to Winning Ways! Report by Simon Mack

West Ham 1 Leicester City 2

28^th December 2019 17:30

London Stadium

Attendance:

Brendan Rodgers rang the changes in London as his hugely altered side came up trumps with all 3 points at the London Stadium. In a bold and striking move the city gaffer made nine changes to the team that was so resoundingly beaten by Liverpool on Boxing Day in a risky strategy in an attempt to inject some fresh impetus into the foxes superb season to date with Fuchs, Morgan, Justin, Choudhury, Mendy, Albrighton, Gray, Perez and Iheanacho all getting starts leaving just Kasper Schmeichel and Jonny Evans remaining in the startling line up from the drubbing against the league leaders.

For West Ham Manager Manuel Pelllegrini the sands of time on his tenure at the hammer’s helm seemed to be running out as his side slipped closer and closer to the bottom three and during this game the Chilean painted a lonely figure sat alone on the touchline and the game would prove to be his last in charge of the irons.

The new look foxes started this one in bright and positive mode striding forward into the hosts half and a superbly weighted long ball from Demari Gray put Kelechi Iheanacho clear through on goal with only hammers keeper Łukasz Fabiański to beat and the polish stopper clumsily collided with Iheanacho in his attempt to thwart the Nigerian’s pending shot on goal. The result? Penalty… However the provider of the superb pass that created the opportunity (Demari Gray) stepped up and fired a tame shot from the 12 yard spot that Fabianski easily mopped up to prevent Leicester from taking an early lead.

Hammers full back Arthur Masuaku is not a man renowned for his goal scoring prowess however mid-way through the first half a West Ham move somehow afforded the former Olympiakos man some space to the left of the city 18 yard box and by golly did the French born Congolese international thunder the ball goal ward. It took every sinew of Kasper Schemichel’s considerable talents to prevent the thunder strike from bursting the net behind him in a superb save that reflected the foxes excellent work throughout the side on the evening.

A huge plus from the night’s performance from a city point of view was the display Marc Albrighton put in from midfield. Largely playing from wide left but alternating and drifting at times the city favourite bombarded the hammers box with an array of crossing that afforded the foxes attack numerous opportunities on goal and just before half time the Leicester wide man looped an inviting  ball toward the far side of the box. The hammers could only clear into the path of an onrushing James Justin down the right and the young full back neatly fed the ball back across goal with another looped ball that found Perez at the far post. The Spaniard’s little nod back toward goal found Iheanacho in the perfect spot and he headed the ball past a helpless Fabianski to give Leicester the lead as the game neared half time.

But before referee David Coote could blow his whistle for the break the hammers were level. In a rapid and sweeping move that split the gap between the city midfield and defence in half Felipe Anderson burst through the city ranks, played a neat one-two with Fredericks on the edge of the foxes box then drove the ball inward finding Spaniard Pablo Fornals almost exactly on the penalty spot in space and he drove the ball low and hard into the Leicester goal to take the teams into the break all square.

Into the second period and the foxes continued with bright endeavour. Hamza Choudhury had put in a capable shift in the defensive midfield role and his neat pass forward to Perez saw the Spaniard begin a run at pace forward taking him around 2 of the West Ham midfield and lace the ball beautifully into the path of an inrushing Demari Gray from the left side. Gray sped with the ball into the box and calmly and ruthlessly placed the ball into the far corner over a sprawled Fabianski in the home goal to slay the ghost of his earlier penalty miss and put the foxes back into a lead that would not be caught on the night.

The game may have had another 30 minutes or so to play out but as the embers of the game burned out it was only the foxes that looked like extending their lead further. Manuel Pellegrini painted an increasingly lonely and tortured soul sat alone on the hammer’s bench in a manner that seemed to know of his ultimate fate on the evening.

Maddison, Ndidi and Barnes was all introduced to give the side a more familiar look as the game came to a conclusion and as referee Coote blew the final whistle huge credit could be given to foxes boss Brendan Rodgers for identifying the need to change things around and having the bravery to do so in such striking fashion. Whether the changes to his starting eleven would have been quite so vast had the performances against Liverpool and Man City gone differently who knows but the Northern Irishmen showed faith in his entire squad and it paid off handsomely.

MOTM could be given to a few of the foxes bright altered side on the evening. Notable mention must go to James Justin who I thought put in a superb shift on the right however for me the MOTM was Demari Gray. Not only did he score the winner but in addition was heavily involved in much of what was positive on the night in the city cause, and to show the bravery to take the winning goal so well in the face of a confidence zapping penalty miss in the first half credit should go to the young wide man for his overall performance and influence on the city win.

Congratulations to Jamie Vardy and his wife and family for the news of a new addition to the Vardy household. The foxes top scorer didn’t travel with the squad in lieu of his new arrival and I’m sure all city fans send their warmest wishes to them all at this joyous time.

Sadly for Manual Pellegrini post-match he was relieved of his duties as the West Ham Manager. I felt for the Chilean on the night who looked to be a lonely and haunted soul on the hammers bench. Stories are rife of David Moyes returning for another spell at the West Ham helm but on the night this was for city fans a welcome return to winning ways after a difficult festive season to date.

Happy New Year to all of the foxes faithful. It will be fascinating to see Brendan Rodgers team selection for the New Year’s Day trip north to Newcastle.