Wilfried Ndidi’s 89th minute strike rescued a point for Leicester to deny the 10-men of West Ham all three points at the King Power Stadium.
The Nigerian’s deflected strike flew past Lukasz Fabianski and into the top corner to square things up after Fabian Balbuena’s first half strike for the Hammers.
Mark Noble was sent off in the 38th minute, a decision that changed the complexion of the game and ultimately allowed Leicester a way back in.
The Foxes battled throughout the 90 minutes to claim an equaliser against a tirelessly working West Ham side, and they got it in the dying embers of the match.
It was almost a horrendous start for West Ham as Kelechi Iheanacho had the ball in the back of the net just 90 seconds into the game but the referee’s assistant rightly put his flag up on the far side.
The hosts controlled the opening exchanges with the Irons barely reaching the Foxes’ half in the first ten minutes.
Lukasz Fabianski was on form right away and he was alert to stop Fabian Balbuena’s backwards header lopping over him as he tipped over the bar.
Felipe Anderson struck the Hammers first shot on target just moments later after a promising move but Peter Schmeichel held comfortably.
That was the beginning of West Ham’s spirited revival as Robert Snodgrass, again deployed in the central-midfield role, arrowed a right-footed shot just wide of Leicester’s goal as West Ham camped in the opposition half.
It was the Scotsman who had another chance for West Ham, albeit an even better one this time. After Javier Hernandez failed to control the ball in the penalty box, Leicester didn’t clear and on a tight angle, Snodgrass fired wide.
A good chance squandered but West Ham’s pressure would soon pay off.
The Hammers dominance from the 10th minute onwards was rewarded as Fabian Balbuena scored his first goal for the club. Felipe Anderson’s 30th minute free-kick was delivered in and found the head of Declan Rice, who smartly headed across the box, on to the head of Fabian Balbuena, who was initially denied by the post but reacted quickest to fire home the rebound.
All West Ham’s hard work threatened to be dismantled and later was when Mark Noble saw red for a late tackle on Wilfried Ndidi just eight minutes after the goal.
The Hammers captain lost possession and tried to win it back immediately. When doing so, he dived straight in and caught the Nigerian on the shin.
Leicester almost instantly took advantage of their one-man superiority when James Maddison’s superb free-kick into the box was met by the head of Vincent Iborra but Fabianski got down expertly well to deny the Spaniard.
West Ham made it to half-time with their slender lead in-tac but it was Leicester who understandably took control after the break.
Half-time substitute Jamie Vardy was lively from the off and his glancing heading in the 54th minute threatened to bring the game back to all square, but ultimately went wide of the goal.
Much to West Ham’s credit after the dismissal of captain Mark Noble, they continued to flurry forward on occasion but the lack of bodies heading towards the Leicester goal meant no significant chances were created.
Marc Albrighton had two quick chances after Grady Diangana lost possession midway in his own half.
The first a firmly hit volley from Chilwell’s ball in which was denied by the Pole and then when the ball wasn’t cleared properly by Issa Diop, Albrighton had a second bite at the cherry on the turn but his tame left-footed effort was again saved down low by Lukasz Fabianski.
In the 66th minute Leicester came even closer to finding an equaliser, when Harry Maguire rose highest from James Maddison’s corner delivery only to be denied by the crossbar.
West Ham really could have and should have buried the game in the 80th minute when upon arrival to the game, Angelo Ogbonna had a free header that he directed agonisingly wide.
Again in the 85th minute, the ten-men of West Ham had another chance to seal all three points but Michail Antonio’s hard work resulted in a simple shot to save for Kaspar Schmeichel.
Those were chances they were made to rue as in the 89th minute, West Ham’s resolute defending was ended as Wilfried Ndidi’s defected shot from 25-yards left Lukasz Fabianski helpless as he saw the ball fly into the top corner.
Fabian Balbuena, the goalscorer and brilliant performer on the day was the unfortunate one to see Ndidi’s effort cannon off him and into the back of the net as West Ham players dropped to the floor in disappointment.
West Ham had the better chance to steal all three points back but when Angelo Ogbonna received the ball on the edge of the box and fired over, fans can’t help but think why did the ball have to land at the centre-back’s feet.
A horror injury to Leicester’s Daniel Amartey meant that eight minutes of added time were played in total but the points were shared in what was a hard-thought point for both sides.