West Ham 1 Leicester 2 analysis: Hammers back four struggle to cope with cunning Foxes

West Ham United 1 Leicester City 2

Mark Bryans
Saturday 15 August 2015 17:54 BST
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(Getty Images)

STAR PLAYER

Riyad Mahrez: The Leicester winger scored twice in the opening day win over Sunderland and was a class act again here. Scored the important second goal and gave Aaron Cresswell the run-around for much of the afternoon. A real asset to Claudio Ranieri's side.

PLAYER RATINGS

West Ham: Adrian (out of 10) 5, Carl Jenkinson 5, Angelo Ogbonna 5, Winston Reid 6, Aaron Cresswell 5, Reece Oxford 6, Mark Noble 6, Cheikhou Kouyate: 6, Dimitri Payet 7, Diafra Sakho 6, Mauro Zarate 5, Pedro Obiang 7, Manuel Lanzini 6, Modibo Maiga 5,

Leicester: Kasper Schmeichel 6, Ritchie De Laet 6,Wes Morgan 6, Robert Huth 6, Jeff Schlupp 6, Riyad Mahrez 8, Andy King 6, Danny Drinkwater 7, Marc Albrighton 7, Jamie Vardy 7, Shinji Okazaki 8, N'Golo Kante 6, Yohan Benalouane 6, Christian Fuchs 5

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Shinji Okazaki: A first goal for Leicester following his big-money summer move from Mainz, the Japan forward linked up well with strike partner Jamie Vardy to open the scoring. His initial well-stuck volley was saved but he was alert enough to header in the rebound and set the Foxes on their way to three points.

VIEW FROM THE BENCH

Both Ranieri and Bilic spent much of the game in their respective technical areas but Bilic will be left wondering where the team that beat Arsenal so convincingly last week disappeared to. Ranieri was not a popular appointment among the Foxes fans but will be winning them over having started with consecutive wins.

MOAN OF THE MATCH

West Ham plan to have several themed days at Upton Park as they bid farewell at the end of the season. The theme on their opening home game of a memorable campaign? Claret and blue day. Hopefully all future themes will be a little more imaginative...

WHO'S UP NEXT

West Ham v Bournemouth (Premier League, Saturday August 22)

Leicester v Tottenham (Premier League, Saturday August 22)

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