Key events
Tomas Soucek, 30 today, gives his reaction
Thank you. It’s a great birthday – to get a goal makes it even more special.
[Alphonse Areola, 32 today, gives Soucek a hug on his way off the field] We kept a clean sheet too so me and him can celebrate!
It was important to win tonight. We played very well against Arsenal but we want to be consistent and build on these results.
Full time: West Ham 2-0 Leicester City
A comfortable night for West Ham, who cruised through the game in second gear. Leicester were a bit better in the second half but never really threatened to get back in the game. The match was effectively over when Tomas Soucek and an unfortunate Jannik Vestegaard own goal put West Ham 2-0 up at half-time.
West Ham move above Everton, level on points with Spurs and Manchester United. They look in very safe hands.
90+1 min “On the subject of balletic ball-players, can we make a case for Ruud Gullit?” says Justin Kavanagh. “He seemed to glide around the pitch, and his grand jeté was a sight to behold (witness his fabulous hanging header in the Euro 88 final).”
That header! I swear I still wince involuntarily every time I see it, worried that he’s done his noggin a mischief.
90 min: West Ham substitution Andy Irving replaces the goalscorer Tomas Soucek, who gets a birthday ovation. The match is petering out, if indeed it petered in.
87 min: Double substitution for Leicester Luke Thomas and Patson Daka replace Jannik Vestergaard and Victor Kristiansen
84 min Faes goes through the back of Soucek and is a little fortunate to escape a booking.
83 min Kristiansen breaks into the area from the left but drives over the bar.
80 min: Great chance for Ferguson! West Ham break three on two with Bowen on the ball. He plays in Ferguson, who takes one touch too many and sees his shot blocked by the stretching Vestergaard. Terrific defending.
78 min According to Flashscore, the xG in the second half is West Ham 0.02-0.24 Leicester. Which is another way of saying that very little is happening. These games are awful to liveblog because there’s essentially nothing to say.
76 min West Ham are starting to regain control after that Leicester spell. It hasn’t been a contender for game of the season but a win and a clean sheet would represent a decent night.
73 min: West Ham substitution Evan Ferguson replaces Mohammed Kudus.
70 min “At the risk of sounding like Alanis Morissette,” says Peter Oh, “isn’t it ironic that a finisher as lethal in his playing days as Ruud van Nistelrooy can’t get his team to score any goals?”
69 min Justin’s shot from the edge of the area is blocked by Cresswell. A goal now would make things interesting because the mood has certainly changed.
67 min Wan-Bissaka does well to beat Mavididi to Justin’s dangerous cross. Moments later, El-Khannouss’s corner is backheaded towards goal by Vestergaard and saved comfortably by Areola.
66 min: Triple substitution for West Ham Carlos Soler, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Emerson replace Edson Alvarez, Jean-Clair Todibo and the teenager Ollie Scarles. He looks very assured at left wing-back.
65 min At the other end, an inviting cross from Cresswell is headed away by Kristiansen at the far post.
64 min El-Khannouss spots a through pass towards Buonanotte, running from right to centre, but there’s too much weight on it and it runs through to Areola.
62 min Leicester are dominating possession for the first time in the game. They’ve still to create a clear chance but little acorns and all that.
61 min: Double substitution for Leicester Harry Winks and Stephy Mavididi replace Boubakary Soumare and Bobby De Cordova-Reid.
59 min De Cordova-Reid’s cross deflects behind for a corner. Leicester are playing poorly but they haven’t thrown the towel in.
El-Khannouss takes a short corner, gets it back and curls that is headed away by Todibo.
58 min More John Barnes, anyone? I love this turn. One second Peter Reid thinks he’s about to nail Barnes; the next he’s eating mud.
55 min Graham Potter’s best teams have always been very methodical and you can see that West Ham are developing the same quality. After a long period of possession, Scarles thrashes a long-range shot that is blocked.
West Ham’s second goal awarded to Vestergaard
52 min West Ham’s second goal has now gone down as a Jannik Vestergaard own goal.
50 min Bowen stays down in obvious pain after a crunching tackle, I think from Ndidi. It looked a bit worrying at first but he’s on his feet now.
49 min And no change, yet, to the pattern of the game. It’s easy to put the boot in on Leicester but they’re a case study of a team with low morale. It’s happened to every football team in history at some stage.
46 min Off we go again. No changes on either side.
Half time: West Ham 2-0 Leicester City
James Justin drills a free-kick into the West Ham wall, the last action of a one-sided half. Leicester were disciplined in defence for most of the half, but they were far too passive and gave away two ugly goals. They look like a team who, even in February, can’t wait for the season to end.
45+1 min Ruud van Nistelrooy threw his hands in disgust after that second goal. Leicester were a bit unfortunate with the deflection but equally Bowen reacted first to the loose ball even though there were defenders all around him.
44 min Replays from the other side show how the goal came about. The corner was headed by Vardy against the body of Bowen, who seized on the loose ball and forced a speculative shot with his right foot. It took a deflection off Vestergaard and went through the left hand of Hermansen, who had no time to react to the deflection.
That may eventually go down as an own goal – it’s not clear whether Bowen’s shot was on target.
Ward-Prowse’s corner from the left was half blocked ahead of the near post. Bowen collected the loose ball and poked a shot from a tight angle that somehow found its way into the net.
