West Ham United 4-1 Leicester City
West Ham United are top of the Premier League table for just the second time in their history after smashing Leicester City 4-1 in their Monday night matchup.
Michail Antonio was the star of the show as he scored two goals, which made him the Hammers’ all-time leading goalscorer in the Premier League.
After winning their first two Premier League games for just the second time, David Moyes’ side now top the table over Chelsea and Liverpool on goals scored having scored a league-leading eight goals.
Leicester’s chances took a massive hit after Ayoze Perez was sent off late in the first half for serious foul play. The Foxes also committed a couple of costly errors which led directly to West Ham goals.
Highlights of the game
Fresh off their 4-2 win over Newcastle, West Ham boss David Moyes named an unchanged starting XI against Leicester. And the Hammers were on the front foot early on as they created a good number of chances. Although, the long-range efforts of Said Benrahma, Declan Rice, and Michail Antonio did not give top keeper Kasper Schmeichel too many problems.
However, the home side would eventually take the lead on 26 minutes as James Maddison’s costly turnover led to a quick West Ham break. Pablo Fornals sent the ball wide to Said Benrahma, and the Algerian crossed the ball back in for Fornals, who produced a sublime first-time finish to beat Schmeichel.
And things would go from bad to worse for the Foxes as Ayoze Perez would get sent off five minutes from half-time for a nasty stomp on Fornals. Upon further inspection on the pitchside monitor, referee Michael Oliver decided to brandish a straight red card for that dangerous challenge despite protests by the Leicester players.
West Ham came out in the second half looking to make their man advantage count, and they came close on a couple of occasions with Tomas Soucek and Antonio, whose header forced a fine save from Schmeichel.
But the Hammers’ pressure finally told as they doubled their advantage on 56 minutes. Caglar Soyuncu played a calamitous blind backpass straight to Antonio, who set up Benrahma for a simple tap-in into an open goal.
Antonio almost added a third goal just after the hour mark as his shot from the edge of the box forced another fine save from Schmeichel. And on the ensuing corner, Aaron Cresswell’s powerful volley flew just over the bar.
But despite going down to 10 men, the Foxes continued to fight and pulled a goal back through Youri Tielemans on 69 minutes.
However, the Hammers restored their two-goal advantage 10 minutes from time through Antonio, whose thunderous shot on the turn gave Schmeichel no chance.
And Antonio would hit the final nail on the Foxes’ coffin with his second just a few minutes later. After a terrific touch to send the ball looping overhead, Antonio beat out Schmeichel and a Leicester defender to slide the ball into the net.
Key statistics
The final statistics bore out West Ham’s dominance. They outshout Leicester 19-5, including 7-1 in terms of shots on target.
Antonio was responsible for seven of those shots as he continues his terrific start to the season. He’s currently tied with Bruno Fernandes atop the goalscoring charts with three goals, and it could have been four had he not missed a penalty against Newcastle.
Antonio’s second goal was the 49th of his Premier League career, which saw him break Paulo Di Canio’s record for the most top-flight goals for West Ham. Antonio also has two assists, which puts him in a tie for second.
Said Benrahma has also been providing his share of Premier League 2021 highlights through two games. The 26-year-old already has two goals after scoring just once in 30 appearances for the Hammers last season.
What’s next?
The Premier League 2021 betting odds at SBOTOP will give West Ham a good shot at continuing their winning start to the season as they take on London neighbours Crystal Palace. The Eagles lost 3-0 to Chelsea on opening day and played out a goalless draw at home against newly promoted Brentford.
As for Leicester, they also have a decent opportunity to bounce back as they visit Norwich. The Canaries were crushed 3-0 and 5-0 by Liverpool and Manchester City in their first two matches, extending their Premier League losing streak to 12 straight games.
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