Hammers beaten at home… again
West Ham were poor again at the London Stadium as they were beaten 2-0 by Leicester City, in a result that is only going to pile even more pressure on beleaguered David Moyes.
The Irons came into the game well aware that they needed to win to arrest a real slump of form, having lost to Crystal Palace at home last week, and been knocked out of the cup by Blackburn on penalties in midweek, but the Foxes were simply sharper throughout the game, and deserved their victory.
The Hammers boss made a strange decision in the warm-up; Kurt Zouma appeared to pick up an injury but he was trusted to play, even though he lasted just 15 minutes.
It is little surprise, then, that Leicester opened the scoring within those first 15, as James Maddison rifled the ball into the roof of the net after a clever lay-off from Patson Daka.
Said Benrahma forced a good save from goalkeeper Danny Ward but it could have been two after 39 minutes, when Craig Dawson chopped Daka down in the penalty area and a spot-kick was awarded after VAR intervened.
Youri Tielemans stepped up and saw his spot-kick saved by Lukasz Fabianski.
The Hammers had a let-off from the spot but couldn’t take advantage in the second half, with Declan Rice heading what was perhaps the best chance over the bar.
And the game slipped beyond the Hammers in the 77th minute; having been sent through on goal, he sprinted away from Nayef Aguerd and finished under Fabianski.
It leaves the Hammers with just one win from their last six games, which is the kind of form that will have the Irons looking anxiously over their shoulders.
The best thing we can say here is that we won’t have to watch the Hammers play until Boxing Day. Right now, that feels like a relief.