Van Nistelrooy starts Leicester reign with win over West Ham

Leicester, Dec 4
Ruud van Nistelrooy made an immediate impression in his first match as Leicester City manager as the Foxes beat West Ham United 3-1 at King Power Stadium.

Jamie Vardy took less than two minutes to give Leicester the lead, with his goal initially disallowed for offside, but a VAR review later determined that the goal should stand, Premier League reports.

West Ham then began to take control but failed to capitalize on their opportunities, with Danny Ings striking the woodwork. Later, Tomas Soucek's foul on Mads Hermansen resulted in a second-half equaliser being ruled out.

After setting up Vardy's opener, Bilal El Khannouss doubled Leicester's lead with a composed finish just after the hour mark. Substitute Patson Daka then sealed the win with a third goal in the 90th minute.

Niclas Fullkrug, another substitute, scored a stoppage-time consolation for West Ham, but they remain 14th in the table.

Leicester's first win in six, meanwhile, sees them climb to 15th, four points clear of the relegation zone.

"In the end you look at the result and the three points, in the position that we are in, it's vital. With the other fixtures of this round we knew it was a big one for us. The result is what matters but I have also seen the game and West Ham were dominant. I think our fighting spirit got us through the game and we were effective in scoring. A great night," Nistelrooy said.

West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui said, "It is hard for the boys - they deserve much more, the fans, it is a hard day for us. The second half, after the second goal, we started losing a bit. When you are losing the match, sometimes you don't choose well.

"Until then I had the feeling we could draw the match but we didn't score and we risked a lot in the last minute and they scored the third goal. In the end, we didn't score the many chances we had."