West Ham 1-2 Leicester
by Paul Donovan
at the Boleyn Ground

WEST HAM manager Slaven Bilic has certainly experienced the highs and lows of life in the Premier League during his first week in charge.

After his side’s impressive victory over Arsenal at Ashburton Grove last Sunday, many expected West Ham to brush aside Leicester City but Claudio Ranieri’s side are made of sterner stuff this season. So it was to the surprise and disappointment of the Claret and Blue faithful who flocked to the opening of the last season at the Boleyn Ground to witness this defeat.

Bilic was critical of his team for lacking aggression, not being direct enough and being too slow to win the second ball. “It was very disappointing after last week’s result. We have to play in a compact and aggressive way,” said Bilic, who felt his team might have had a penalty in the first half when Diafro Sakho was taken down by keeper Kasper Schmeichel.

The game began well for West Ham who looked in total control, dominating possession, with Leicester hardly getting a touch of the ball for long periods. Then it all changed midway through the half, when first Riyad Mahrez sliced through the West Ham rearguard, forcing a save from Adrian. Then a couple of minutes later Shinji Okazaki broke through, having his volley forced up in the air by Adrian, leaving him to nod home the loose ball.

There was worse to follow in the 37th minute when Marc Albrighton’s pull back was met sweetly by Riyad Mahrez who swept home.

West Ham came out with more purpose in the second half, replacing 16-year-old Reece Oxford with new signing Pedro Obiang. The new recruit added more mobility and aggression to the central midfield area as the Hammers shifted up a gear. The half was 10 minutes old when a cross from the left was expertly finished off by Dimitri Payet into the top corner from the edge of the penalty area. 

It was now all West Ham, with most observers expecting the home side to go on and win the game.

But the threat again quickly subsided. The best of the home side’s subsequent efforts coming in the 80th minute when a Sakho effort was saved by Schmeichel.

There was one last bit of drama came, when two minutes into injury time Adrian came up for a corner and managed to haul down Jamie Vardy. Referee Anthony Taylor finished an undistinguished game by brandishing a red card.

Ranieri was happy to have six points though and was less concerned about being top of the table. “The players suffered and fought together,” he said.