Dec 04,2024
Ruud van Nistelrooy enjoyed a dream start to his reign as Leicester manager after a 3-1 win over West Ham, whose boss Julen Lopetegui is under increasing pressure.
Van Nistelrooy has replaced Steve Cooper at the King Power Stadium and saw Jamie Vardy open the scoring after just 98 seconds.
Bilal El Khannouss and Patson Daka added goals after the break to ensure the Dutchman started with three points in style.
His task is to keep the Foxes in the Premier League this season and after ending a five-game winless run they moved up to 15th, four points clear of the relegation zone.
West Ham's hierarchy will have seen what impact a managerial change can have as the jury remains out on Lopetegui, with away fans making their feelings clear by chanting "You’re getting sacked in the morning".
Niclas Fullkrug scored a consolation goal at the death but it counted for nothing and forthcoming games against Wolves, Bournemouth, Brighton and Southampton could determine the Spaniard’s future.
When Van Nistelrooy went to bed last night, even he would not have dreamt of his side starting as well as they did as they went ahead with less than two minutes on the clock.
One of the Dutchman’s first conversations following his appointment was to take Vardy to task for breaking his record for scoring in the most consecutive Premier League games nine years ago.
And the veteran striker rolled back to the years as, living on the shoulder of the West Ham defence, he raced clear from El Khannouss’ through-ball and slotted into the corner.
The linesman’s flag immediately went up but a lengthy VAR review ruled Vardy had timed his run perfectly and the goal stood.
Vardy could have added a second from a similar move but this time Lukasz Fabianski denied him.
The Dutchman quickly learned about the frailties of his side as West Ham created a raft of chances in search of an equaliser.
Jarrod Bowen forced Mads Hermansen into a stretching save when he cut in from the right before Ings’ header crashed into the post and Max Kilman slipped at the crucial point from the rebound.
Bowen, a constant threat, sent a ball across face of goal which evaded everyone before the England international was denied by a reflex save from the busy Hermansen.
The Danish goalkeeper needed to be alert to tip over Mohammed Kudus’ deflected effort early in the second half before he was saved by the referee’s whistle after after his attempted punch went into his own goal, Tomas Soucek the man penalised.
Leicester remained a threat on the counter-attack and that is how they doubled their lead just after the hour.
Kasey McAteer was set clear down the left and his ball inside was perfect for El Khannouss to find the bottom corner from 15 yards.
It was almost three as Fabianski produced an acrobatic save from Wilfred Ndidi’s header before Leicester needed a heroic piece of defending to keep their 2-0 lead intact.
Crysencio Summerville bundled the ball goalwards and it was heading over the line until Conor Coady adjusted his feet and poked it clear.
The Foxes, who also had a goal from substitute Bobby De Cordova-Reid chalked off by VAR, wrapped things up in the 90th minute when Daka broke clear and emphatically converted into the roof of the net.
West Ham did get on the scoresheet when Fullkrug headed a corner home, but the game was already done.
Jean-Philippe Mateta fired Crystal Palace to a first Premier League away win of the season and left Ipswich still without a victory on home soil.
Mateta struck in the second half to secure a 1-0 success for the Eagles with the only real piece of quality in a nervy encounter between two struggling teams.
It is now two wins and three draws from the last six matches for Oliver Glasner's side, whose winter revival is gathering pace nicely following a sticky start to the campaign.
However, Palace might not have come out of the match totally unscathed.
Their captain, Marc Guehi (below), could be in trouble with the Football Association for wearing a rainbow armband with 'Jesus loves you’ written on it, having been reminded by the governing body of its strict rules on religious messages after doing similar at the weekend.
For the record, Ipswich skipper Sam Morsy again did not wear the rainbow armband, part of the Premier League’s campaign to show support for people in the LGBTQ+ community, having opted not to over the weekend due to his religious beliefs.
When the match began, the first chance fell to Ipswich with Guehi just getting ahead of Dara O’Shea as he went for Leif Davis’ corner.
For Palace, Cheick Doucoure’s fierce shot from the edge of the box was blocked by Jacob Greaves before Mateta sent Eberechi Eze racing through, with Arijanet Muric saving the midfielder’s effort.
Ipswich upped the ante as the first half drew to a close and were denied by a point-blank save by Dean Henderson from Harry Clarke’s near-post header.
Shortly after the interval Wes Burns got clear down the right and lifted an inviting cross towards Liam Delap, whose header was straight at Henderson.
However, from out of nowhere Palace conjured up a lightning counter-attack to go ahead on the hour.
Eze led the charge before feeding Mateta, who surged forward with a couple of stepovers before brushing off the attention of Greaves and finishing superbly past Muric.
It was the French forward’s sixth goal of the season, and his first away from Selhurst Park.
The same combination almost doubled Palace’s lead, Eze lifting the ball in behind for Mateta to chase but this time Muric spread himself well to make a save.
Back came Ipswich with Davis fizzing in another cross for Delap, who somehow mistimed his jump and completely missed the ball from six yards.
As time ticked down Greaves looped a header against the far post, with the rebound just eluding substitute Ali-Al Hamadi on another frustrating night for the hosts.
