Leicester all but waved a white flag in their battle against relegation after a feeble surrender against West Ham.
Tomas Soucek was gifted a goal on his 30th birthday and Jannik Vestergaard scored an own goal as the Foxes slipped to a meek 2-0 defeat.
Ruud van Nistelrooy’s hapless side have now lost 11 of their last 12 matches, the last four by an aggregate score of 12-0.
Back-to-back wins and clean sheets for @WestHam 😤#WHULEI pic.twitter.com/HOUgef3NQi
— Premier League (@premierleague) February 27, 2025
They could have been just two points from safety with a win but never looked remotely like taking advantage of all the other protagonists in the relegation scrap losing this week.
Ten years ago Leicester were seven points adrift when a 2-1 win over West Ham kick-started an unlikely great escape.
Now the gap is still only five, but Nigel Pearson’s side were not defending as badly as the current crop.
West Ham opened the scoring after 20 minutes with their first attack of the match, when Aaron Cresswell found himself on the edge of Leicester’s penalty area.
Vestergaard could have easily got a block on Cresswell’s hopeful shot from 20 yards, but instead he waved it through.
It was helped goalwards by an onside, yet totally unmarked, Mohammed Kudus from close range and was well blocked by Mads Hermansen. It was a fine save, whether the Foxes goalkeeper knew much about it or not, but Leicester’s defenders just stood and admired it as Soucek wandered forward to finish with a simple tap-in.
The defending was even worse when West Ham doubled their lead two minutes before half-time.
Jamie Vardy made a mess of trying to clear James Ward-Prowse’s corner at the near post as he was challenged by Jarrod Bowen.
The Hammers captain was allowed to scurry along the byline before his cross-shot hit Vestergaard’s inside leg and dribbled past Hermansen into the net.
Bowen had scored his 50th Premier League goal in Saturday’s surprise win at Arsenal, but he will have to wait a bit longer for number 51 after it was given as an own goal.
After the break the Foxes mustered a couple of attacks, but to no avail with Vardy’s shot deflected wide and Vestergaard heading straight at another birthday boy, goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.
West Ham’s January loan signing Evan Ferguson was given a 20-minute run-out at the end and had a chance to get off the mark when he was played in by Bowen, but Wout Faes blocked his shot.
The final whistle signalled back-to-back Premier League wins for West Ham for the first time since March, signs that new boss Graham Potter is starting to make his mark.
But they will surely not get an easier victory than this, against a team who appear to have given up completely.
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