LOSING to Leicester’s second string could and perhaps should be the final straw for Manuel Pellegrini. On the day West Ham paid tribute to Martin Peters, a hallowed figure from the club’s short-lived glory days, the reality of the current mess was laid bare. The Foxes are everything the Hammers should aspire to be and […]
LOSING to Leicester’s second string could and perhaps should be the final straw for Manuel Pellegrini.
On the day West Ham paid tribute to Martin Peters, a hallowed figure from the club’s short-lived glory days, the reality of the current mess was laid bare.
The Foxes are everything the Hammers should aspire to be and even the understudies to a first team chasing Champions League football are good enough to beat the “pride” of East London.
It’s fair to speculate that if Peters had been playing today, he would not have driven his car off the road in the early hours of Christmas morning like Lamborghini snowman Michail Antonio.
And the World Cup winner would have been quietly embarrassed by the way his beloved Hammers limped to defeat against a much-changed Leicester line-up.
Pellegrini made a host of changes himself but still seems to be no closer to finding a winning recipe from his expensively-assembled ingredients.
The return from injury of Lukasz Fabianski threatened briefly to be a happy one when he saved an early penalty from Demarai Gray that he had himself conceded.
But it was Gray who earned redemption in the long run.
Terrible defending enabled Kelechi Iheanacho to score he opening goal and although Pablo Fornals equalised, more ineptitude by those in front of Fabianski allowed Gray to grab what turned out to be the winner.
Victory for Leicester took them four points clear of Manchester City in the race for second place and was a welcome fillip after their Boxing Day battering by runaway leaders Liverpool.
It was an odd game played in a weird atmosphere.
For long periods, it was the sort of flat fare that you’d expect to see next week in the FA Cup between two Premier League clubs fielding weakened teams.
The pre-match headlines surrounded Rodgers making nine changes to the side schooled by Jurgen Klopp’s champions-elect.
Jamie Vardy was completely absent – not having a party, but a baby. To be more accurate, wife Rebekah had given birth to a little girl on the morning of the game.
Rodgers had made no secret of his intention to rotate his squad in response to the demands of the festive schedule.
What did come as a surprise was the strong reaction of opposite number Pellegrini to the Hammers’ last-minute defeat at Crystal Palace.
Fabianski’s return was a no-brainer but the mild-mannered Chilean retained only four members of the Selhurst Park starting line-up.
Among those dropped were Antonio and club captain Mark Noble, who had lost his rag during the game with team-mate Angelo Ogbonna, who was left out of the 18 entirely.
The alterations did not produce any improvement at either end of the pitch.
Inside nine minutes, the home defence was caught out by simple lofted pass by Gray and after the onrushing Iheanacho had touched the ball past the Pole there was only going to be one outcome: a penalty and a yellow card.
But Fabianski redeemed himself immediately, as Gray struck his spotkick too close to him, and at a convenient height. The obligatory VAR check confirmed any encroachment had had “no material impact”.
The same could be said for West Ham’s strikers at the other end. The closest they came for a long while was a fiercely hit shot by left back Arthur Masuaku that Schmeichel beat away with an arm.
As if to liven up a game being played out to a background murmur more appropriate to a dinner party than a football match, the Hammers gifted the visitors the lead.
Masuaku should have left Albrighton’s overhit cross but instead headed it up in the air. Justin miscued the ball to the back post where Ayoze Perez headed it back for Iheanacho to nod past Fabianski.
Pellegrini cut a haunted figure in the dugout but his side seemed energised by going behind and equalised quickly.
Felipe Anderson, who’d been having another bang average game until that point, found a different gear, bursting past opponents and exchanging passes with Ryan Fredericks.
The Brazilian’s cutback was inviting and Fornals said thanks very much as he swept the ball home to register his first Premier League goal.
Sebastien Haller jabbed an effort into the side netting before referee David Coote called time on a strange opening 45 minutes.
The second period began aimlessly. Pellegrini’s response was to take off Haller, a decision greeted with boos, and to bring on Antonio.
The West Ham boss wanted his sub to make as dramatic an impact on the game as he had on that poor family’s bin shed in Balham.
Instead it was Leicester who scored almost immediately. Despite Issa Diop’s hapless efforts to wrestle him off the ball, Perez broke and played the ball through for Gray, who finished confidently.
West Ham huffed and puffed but did not create a clear-cut opportunity to equalise.
Substitute Robert Snodgrass’s desperate dive in search of a late penalty summed up the predicament of West Ham and Pellegrini.
His team was booed off yet again and he will surely be put out of his misery should the Hammers fail to beat struggling Bournemouth in the relegation six-pointer on New Year’s Day.
If not before.
