Leicester City survived a strong finish from West Ham United to clinch a 2-1 win at Upton Park in the Premier League this afternoon, while the home side finished the match with 10 men.
© Getty Images
The home side looked the sharper of the two sides early on as Dimitri Payet tried to put the Leicester defenders under pressure with a free kick, before playing the ball in for Carl Jenkinson shortly after.
Despite West Ham's strong start, it was Leicester who opened the scoring when Jamie Vardy lofted the ball in for Shinji Okazaki, who saw Adrian punch his volley clear before heading in from the rebound for his first goal for the Foxes.
© Getty Images
The visitors started to control the match, and doubled their lead before half time when Marc Albrighton picked out Riyad Mahrez with a through-ball, leaving the winger to curl it into the top corner.
The Hammers came close to cutting the deficit just before the interval when a loose ball dropped to Cheikhou Kouyate in the area, but he could not keep his header down.
© Getty Images
The visitors wanted a penalty early in the second half when Diafra Sakho took a tumble in the penalty area under a challenge from Wes Morgan, but the referee did not award the spot kick.
Slaven Bilic's side did get a goal back two minutes later though as Sakho played the ball into the box for Payet, leaving the French international to smash it past Schmeichel for his first Premier League goal.
© Getty Images
Sakho could have equalised on the hour mark as West Ham continued to look the stronger of the two sides in the second half, but his header was straight at the Leicester keeper.
Mahrez had an opportunity to restore the two-goal cushion for the visitors with 20 minutes remaining, curling a free kick towards the West Ham goal, but it did not trouble Adrian.
Both sides continued to create chances as full time approached, with Vardy appearing to have Adrian beaten before slicing the ball over, while Schmeichel pulled off a stop to deny Sakho soon after.
However, the home side finished the match a player short after Adrian collided with Vardy in the penalty area while defending a corner, leaving Jenkinson to finish to game in goal as West Ham had already used all of their substitutions, allowing Leicester to hold on for the victory.
Sian Cowper
