Leicester beat West Ham to win on the road again
Sports
Leicester beat West Ham to win on the road again
LONDON (Reuters) - Leicester City beat West Ham United 2-0 with goals from James Maddison and Harvey Barnes on Saturday to complete a hat-trick of away wins in the Premier League and move up to 12th in the standings going into the mid-season break.
Leicester, who lost their first five away games this season, needed just eight minutes to take the lead when a counter-attacking move finished with an unmarked Maddison firing his shot into the roof of the net at the far post.
Leicester s joy quickly turned to England s concern as Maddison -- who made the World Cup squad two days ago -- went down clutching his leg and was immediately substituted, with the 25-year-old walking straight down the tunnel for treatment.
But Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers allayed any fears that the midfielder could miss out on the tournament in Qatar that kicks off on Nov. 20, with England set to play Iran in their group opener a day later.
"He s fine. It was just precautionary, a little soreness on the side of the knee. He hasn t trained a lot this week. He s okay," Rodgers said.
West Ham s afternoon nearly went from bad to worse after Craig Dawson s last-ditch tackle brought down Patson Daka in the box, with the referee awarding a penalty after a VAR check, but goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski saved Youri Tielemans s spot kick.
The home side pressed and probed for an equaliser in the second half as Declan Rice set the tempo and pulled strings from midfield while Leicester were shoddy in possession, forcing manager Brendan Rodgers to make a triple change.
The decision paid off six minutes later as substitute Ayoze Perez released Barnes with a sublime through-ball on another Leicester counter-attack and the English winger finished with a first-time effort to beat Fabianski.
The result leaves West Ham in 16th place, a point above the relegation zone, after their third straight league defeat and the home fans booed them at the final whistle.
