A David Moyes-less West Ham hammer Leicester City to bring the foxes tumbling back down to earth after an extraordinary 5-2 win at the Etihad.
With West Ham United marshalling an excellent deep block and hitting the foxes on the counter, a surprising but deservedly accurate 3-0 win over Leicester City was taken back to East London.
Leicester never really got started in this game and with a buoyant Michail Antonio causing the Leicester back three endless problems it was no surprise when he headed them in front. Fornals doubled the lead as he was afforded the space of Aylestone to run into with Schmeichel not shutting his angles down and beaten easily at his near post.
The foxes went in 2-0 down at half time with passes going astray and a lack of attacking aggression in all areas of the field. A lacklustre feel was prevalent.
Second half was little better for the foxes with The Hammers retreating behind the ball easily and breaking at will with an over committed backline leaving gaps. The game was put to bed late on by Bowen and could have been worse had Declan Rice’s shot snuck under the bar instead of on it.
After such an amazing result, this was a sobering experience going into the international break and one that they’ll be keen to put behind them with Aston Villa next up on the 17th October. But it shouldn’t be forgotten that Leicester City are still four first team players short and results like this will always be possible until those key players return.
Note : 7/10 equals a steady performance
Kasper Schmeichel – 5
Second goal beaten on his near post and third he could have done better with. Saved a few shots that were straight at him. With Leicester being so bad at defending crosses it might be time for him to start dominating his area for once.
Daniel Amartey – 5
Never really made any impact on the game both positive or negative. Subbed off on 54 minutes for an injury.
Caglar Soyuncu – 5
Got bullied far too often by Antonio and switched off for the first two goals, leaving Antonio with way too much room and Fornals with acres to run onto. As good as his defending can be he is too often not winning balls in the air this season.
Jonny Evans – 5
Seemed to be moving gingerly in the first half and nowhere near as sharp as his normal self. Not dominating in the air and looked uncomfortable in the 3. Booked for a blatant foul (a common theme in his performances).
James Justin – 4
Offered virtually nothing going forward or defensively as a wing back and was guilty of some sloppy play, seemed lost as to his role with West Ham keeping a deep block and filling out wide areas with bodies.
Timothy Castagne – 5
Persevered down his flank but suffered from the same problems as Justin with him being quickly closed down and afforded no space for runs or crosses. Was allowed further up the pitch second half when Amartey was subbed but to no avail. Too often the chance to exploit what little width was open was missed.
Nampalys Mendy – 5
Arguably our biggest problem: with Ndidi being the ideal match up to Declan Rice, Mendy was frequently over run and was constantly doubled up on and bullied off the ball. When Mendy did get the ball he kept it ticking over but thats only of any use when you’re winning the game. Passing was too ponderous and with no No.10 or width to speak of is it a surprise he took long deciding his passes today? A blatant yellow card as well.
Youri Tielemans – 3
Extremely poor throughout the game with several sloppy passes in key areas and the look of a player running in treacle too often. Poor corners and crosses and when he was supposed to be covering at the back he had no idea Bowen ran behind him for the third goal. Again this could be down to not having enough cover in midfield. But too often Youri is not consistent enough for a player of his quality.
Harvey Barnes – 5
Hardly a performance that he’d want going into to his first England call up, but busy throughout. He didn’t run off the ball enough and offer himself in enough positions for both central midfielders although when he did he had a fantastic goal chalked off. Also a terrible shot at the start of the half compounded his display.
Ayoze Perez – 3
Although he started busy, as soon as West Ham took the lead he disappeared into himself and was ineffective. Difficult to know what position he was supposed to be playing. subbed off 63 minutes.
Jamie Vardy – 6
A lively afternoon for Leicester City’s talisman but one that did not hurt West Ham, with one shot on target throughout. Should have scored in the closing stages.
Cengiz Under – 6
Subbed on at 54 minutes for his debut. Looked keen to get involved but was desperately trying to build up some cohesion with teammates that are still getting to know him. Tried a quite frankly embarrassing dive in the 78th minute
Kelechi Iheanacho – 6
Subbed on at 63 minutes for Perez and was hurt by poor supply and passes throughout. When he did get in an interesting position he too suffered from being ponderous on the ball.
Hamza Choudhury – 6
Subbed on too late to make an impact; in hindsight should he have been considered for a start?