Soccer Football - Premier League - Leicester City v West Ham United - King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain - December 3, 2024 Leicester City manager Ruud van Nistelrooy celebrates after the match Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers
LEICESTER, England (Reuters) -Leicester City manager Ruud van Nistelrooy got off to a winning start in his first game in charge as they beat West Ham United 3-1 in the Premier League on Tuesday.
Veteran striker Jamie Vardy, 20-year-old Bilal El Khannouss and substitute Patson Daka scored as Leicester took their chances while a dominant West Ham were guilty of spurning several good opportunities, only getting a late consolation goal from Niclas Fuellkrug.
Van Nistelrooy was appointed on Friday to replace Steve Cooper after the Foxes made a poor start to the season and although he did not have much time with his new charges, his arrival injected some much-needed good fortune into the club.
The win moved Leicester, who last won six weeks ago, from a point above the relegation places to 15th, while West Ham are one place above them in the standings.
The 37-year-old Vardy beat the offside trap to score after 98 seconds although it took more than two minutes for a VAR check to confirm his run had been perfectly timed.
Leicester’s second came on the hour mark as El Khannouss steered home a perfectly weighted pass inside from Kasey McAteer after a long ball to the left from Facundo Buonanotte stretched the West Ham defence.
Bobby De Cordova-Reid found the net in the 81st minute but his effort was chalked off for offside after a VAR check but in the 90th minute Daka was released on the left and finished with a powerful strike.
For the rest it was a match that the Hammers dominated, spurning several clear-cut chances before they bagged a late consolation goal, with the result piling the pressure on under fire manager Julen Lopetegui.
Danny Ings, making his first start of the season, saw his 13th minute header deflect off Leicester fullback James Justin and onto the base of the post.
In the 69th minute, Leicester's Conor Coady cleared off the line as he was falling back into his own net, keeping out substitute Crysencio Summerville’s effort with the tip of his toe.
There was also a let off for Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen in the 58th minute when he came out to punch the ball but missed, allowing it to trickle into the net only for the referee to award a free kick for a push by Tomas Soucek.
West Ham finally found the net four minutes into stoppage time with Fuellkrug's header on his return from injury.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Toby Davis)
