Jacob Steinberg’s report has dropped, so I’ll leave you with that. Thanks for your company, bye!
Here’s the thoroughly likeable Michail Antonio
“It’s amazing! I’m so relieved. In the first half I was overdoing it, trying to get the goal [to break the record], but in the second half I didn’t let it affect me so much and I got two goals and an assist.
“[On his celebration, when he lifted a cardboard cut-out of himself up and then gave it a big smacker] I’ve not been celebrating lately because of VAR, but I thought, I’ve gotta do something if I make history! Did any of you get what the celebration meant by the way? [The panel haven’t a clue] It was from Save the Last Dance, don’t you remember!
“Can you imagine if it had been disallowed by VAR? That would have been proper embarrassing! I’m always smiling so I’d probably have seen the funny side of that as well.
“The atmosphere was amazing. There’s nothing better than scoring a goal and then hearing the roar of a crowd. Nothing better.
“I’ve never been top of the table since I’ve been at this club, so I’m just gonna enjoy that now! We’ve got belief in ourselves - we work hard and we’ve got the quality to break teams down. When the gaffer first came in, one of the first things he said is that our running stats weren’t good enough. We were 17th place in the running stats, but now we’re top of that table, and we’re top of the the table.
“[Can you win the Golden Boot?] Obviously. And I’m gonna make sure no one can catch me! Last year I was disappointed with my 10 goals, I was looking for 15 last year. Now I’ve got three in two goals. Who knows, could even get 20?!”
Full time: West Ham 4-1 Leicester
Peep peep! West Ham go top of the embryonic Premier League table after thumping ten-man Leicester at a delirious London Stadium. The star was Michail Antonio, who destroyed Leicester’s fragile defence. He scored two and made one - and in the process moved past Paolo Di Canio to become West Ham’s record Premier League goalscorer. Ayoze Perez’s red card in the first half didn’t help Leicester, but even at that stage West Ham were in control of the game. It was a quite exhilarating performance.
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90 min Three minutes of added time.
88 min A double substitution for West Ham. Mark Noble and Andriy Yarmolenko replace the excellent Said Benrahma and the sensational Michail Antonio.
85 min That goal puts West Ham top of the nascent Premier League table. And they’ve scored eight times in two games.
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The tireless Coufal moved down the right and flipped a hopeful cross into the middle. It bounced a little awkwardly behind Antonio, who improvised superbly to lob the ball into the space behind the defence. Schmeichel stayed in his six-yard box and that allowed Antonio to launch himself at the ball and stud it into the net.
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GOAL! West Ham 4-1 Leicester (Antonio 84)
He’s got another one!
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83 min Antonio celebrated by cavorting with a cardboard cut-out of himself on the touchline. Sod it, might as well.
82 min Two more changes for Leicester: Kelechi Iheanacho and Boubakary Soumare replaces Vardy and Maddison.
It’s Antonio’s 48th goal in the Premier League, a new West Ham record, and boy does he deserve it. Rice played a one-two with Cresswell and clipped a low cross to the near post, where Antonio forced his way in front of Soyuncu to shield the ball. Then he moved back inside, onto his right foot, and slammed a shot on the turn past Schmeichel. He has been unstoppable tonight.
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GOAL! West Ham 3-1 Leicester (Antonio 80)
Michail Antonio seals victory with a superb goal!
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79 min West Ham, who were briefly unnerved by Tielemans’ goal, have started to control the game again.
78 min Bowen plays this one short to Benrahma, whose cross clears everyone in the middle.
77 min Coufal’s cross is shinned over his own by by Soyuncu, which means yet another corner for West Ham...
75 min Bowen’s deep corner is headed down dangerously by Dawson and booted away by Soyuncu. West Ham keep the ball alive until Rice stands up a deep cross that is nutted wide by Dawson. It was only a half chance.
74 min Tielemans’ goal has altered the mood, and for the first time since Perez’s red card Leicester look like they fancy their chances.
71 min Ricardo is booked for a late tackle on Cresswell.
Maddison’s cross from the left bobbled across the area to Tielemans, whose stinging shot was blocked brilliantly by Cresswell. The ball rebounded to Tielemans, who poked it past Fabianski. There was a VAR check for handball, but it hit Tielemans on the chest so the goal stands.
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GOAL! West Ham 2-1 Leicester (Tielemans 70)
Erm, about that testimonial atmosphere.
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69 min It’s all West Ham. Their players and fans are having so much fun; there’s almost a testimonial atmosphere around the ground.
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67 min Bowen’s corner is headed wide of the near post by the flying Dawson. A half chance at best.
66 min It’s worth remembering that Leicester are without six defenders - Evans, Justin, Fofana, Bertrand, Vestergaard and Castagne (only fit enough for the bench) - because of injury or Covid. There’s nothing to worry about, they’ve just had a bad night.
64 min A change for Leicester: Patson Daka makes his Premier League debut, replacing Harvey Barnes. That means a switch to a 4-3-2 formation.
64 min The resulting corner is headed up in the air and drops onto the left foot of Cresswell, who leathers a volley over the bar from 15 yards. That was a good chance, certianly for him.
63 min: Fine save from Schmeichel! Antonio, who has had a barnstorming game, almost gets the goal he deserves. He started the move himself, robbing Tielemans in midfield and fizzing a pass into Benrahma. He waited and then returned the ball to Antonio, who cracked a low shot from 25 yards that would have sneaked in the corner but for Schmeichel’s touch.
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60 min “You’d think that with all the ink that footballers have nowadays,” says Niall Mullen, “they could find some space on their forearms for a tattoo that reads ‘Never play a blind back pass’.”
58 min After a slowish start to the game, West Ham have been quite outstanding - their intensity, tactical awareness and counter-attacking have been too much for Leicester. The red card has made it a more comfortable night, but even before that West Ham had the game under control.
Caglar Soyuncu has had a shocker. He played a blind backpass to Schmeichel that was intercepted by the alert Antonio. He drew Schmeichel, looked up and picked out Benrahma, who sidefooted the ball past Amartey on the line.
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GOAL! West Ham 2-0 Leicester (Benrahma 56)
Game over.
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55 min West Ham appeal unsuccessfully for a penalty when Benrahma goes over after a challenge from Ricardo. It certainly wasn’t a foul; it might have been a dive, though he probably just stumbled.
53 min Barnes surges into the West Ham area, away from a couple of defenders, and is about to shoot when Coufal comes on the blind side to poke the ball behindfor a corner.
52 min: Chance for West Ham! Fornals curls a deep cross to Antonio, whose powerful header forces Schmeichel to leap and push it away. That’s a good save, though Antonio’s header was probably too close to him.
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50 min Soucek misses a half chance, stabbing over on the run after a lovely flick from Bowen. West Ham are dominating possession at the start of the second half. Leicester have switched to a 4-4-1 formation, with Maddison on the right. I suppose their plan is to stay in the game for as long as possible and then switch to 4-3-2 by bringing Iheanacho or Daka on.
47 min “The foul looked awful, but Perez was knocked off-balance and in trying to stay on his feet he was unable to get his head up,” says Simon. “Probably never saw Fournals. I think that that should have been a mitigating factor.”
Personally I think he did see him - but even if he didn’t, I’m not sure that matters. It looked to me like a split-second misjudgement, probably caused by his irritation at being knocked off balance by Cresswell.
46 min Peep peep! Leicester begin the second half.
VAR I don’t know how to break this to you, but it’s been really good so far this season. The Perez red card was handled very smoothly.
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Half-time entertainment
Half time: West Ham 1-0 Leicester
Peep peep! West Ham lead deservedly after a smart, counter-attacking performance in the first half at the London Stadium. Pablo Fornals scored a fine goal and was then tackled dangerously by Ayoze Perez, who was sent off after a VAR check. Leicester had a lot of the ball, particularly before Perez’s red card, but struggled to get Jamie Vardy in the game.
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45+2 min The corner is headed away by Vardy.
45+2 min Four minutes of added time. Bowen’s inswinging free-kick is headed behind for a corner by Vardy, who has barely touched the ball in this first half.
45+1 min “I am sorry,” says Mary Waltz, “but you can’t do that to someone’s leg and not get a red. That foot stomp would have made any flamenco dancer proud.”
45 min Bowen stands up a deep cross that clears Ricardo and is miscontrolled by Antonio eight yards from goal. He must have been unsighted, because that looked a great chance.
44 min Antonio’s snapshot is blocked by Amartey. Leicester really need half-time here.
42 min I suspect Perez’s tackle was reckless rather than malicious. Not that it matters - he used excessive force and it was a clear red card.
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AYOZE PEREZ IS SENT OFF!
40 min Leicester’s players are very unhappy, with Schmeichel leading the protests, but that was a really dangerous tackle from Perez. He was off balance, yes, but he was also miles away from the ball and plunged his studs into Fornals’ calf. It was a potential leg-breaker.
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39 min: VAR check Michael Oliver is going to look at the monitor. He’ll be sent off here.
38 min Perez plunges his studs into the side of Fornals’ leg. The referee Michael Oliver gave nothing, but this could easily be a red card.
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37 min Leicester’s centre backs, Soyuncu and Amartey, have both had over 60 touches in the game. Nobody else on either side has had more than 35.
35 min Bowen harasses Soyuncu into conceding a corner. He takes it himself, hanging an inviting ball up at the far post. Dawson and Ogbonna both go for it, along with a few Leicester defenders, and the ball bounces just wide. I think that came off Dawson’s head, though it’s hard to be sure as there were four or five players jumping for it.
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34 min West Ham did a similar number on Leicester last season, beating them 3-0 and 3-2 despite having less than 35 per cent possession in both games.
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33 min Ricardo feeds a sharp pass into Maddison in the area. He flicks it classily behind him to Perez, who screws a cross shot well wide.
30 min And now a chance at the other end. Perez finds a bit of space in a very congested penalty area and plays a short pass to Ricardo, who slips and slices his shot wide of the near post. That was Leicester’s first attempt on goal; West Ham have had six.
29 min Soucek almost makes it 2-0! Leicester are dominating posession but West Ham look such a threat when they do attack. Fornals, on the right, hammered an excellent cross towards Soucek at the near post. He got between Soyuncu and Ndidi but powered a header just wide.
The goal was all the work of Fornals and Benrahma, the two men who changed positions from last week’s game. Fornals, found between the lines by Bowen, waved a pass out to Benrahma on the left and kept running. Benrahma looked up and guided a cross back towards Fornals, who arrived late in the area and steered a first-time shot into the far corner. That’s a lovely goal.
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GOAL! West Ham 1-0 Leicester (Fornals 26)
Pablo Fornals gives West Ham the lead with a terrific goal!
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24 min Soucek’s well-struck shot from the edge of the area is blocked by Ndidi.
23 min Perez turns Benrahma smoothly, 40 yards from goal, and slides a through ball towards Vardy. The last Ogbonna stretches to make a crucial interception. Leicester look really good in the middle third of the pitch, but they are yet to create anything of note.
22 min Ricardo plays a good ball down the right to Perez, whose cross on the half-turn is too close to Fabianski.
19 min Antonio wins a corner off Ricardo, allowing West Ham’s big men to runmble forward. Coufal’s inswinger is headed away at the near post.
18 min Barnes plays a wall pass with Tielemans and slips Rice on the left of the area, but Dawson comes across to clear. Barnes and Maddison look right in the mood, as does Antonio at the other end.
16 min Antonio wrestles Ndidi off the ball on the halfway line and heads straight for goal. Soyuncu backpedals, caught in the headlights, and Antonio gets to within 25 yards of goal before blasting well wide.
16 min The referee Michael Oliver has already let two or three challenges go that would have brought free-kicks last season. Another couple of weeks and this will be happening.
15 min Coufal makes an important interception to stop Maddison’s imaginative pass reaching Barnes (I think) down the left.
14 min Coufal’s deep cross is cleared by Ricardo, but only as far as Rice, 25 yards out. He collects the loose ball and welts it high over the bar.
11 min Antonio looks very sharp whenever West Ham counter-attack. It’s an intriguing game, though not yet a particularly exciting one.
9 min Leicester have had 72 per cent possession so far.
6 min A loose ball falls nicely for Benrahma, who whips a curler towards goal from 25 yards. Schmeichel makes a comfortable save. Benrahma has actually started on the left, with Fornals playing as the No10, presumably because of his superior defensive ability.
5 min Leicester have made a really confident start, passing the ball with a bit of swagger. West Ham won’t mind playing on the counter-attack, mind.
2 min Antonio charges thrillingly away from Ndidi and Soyuncu, but a promising attack falls down when he stabs an errant pass towards Bowen.
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1 min Bowen loses the ball in a dangerous area, allowing Maddison to slide a pass into the area for Barnes. His cross is blocked at the near post by Dawson.
1 min Peep peep! West Ham, in claret and blue, kick off from right to left. Leicester are in their mint away kit. Featuring an authentic and distinctive design, their new shirt’s soft and lightweight fabric is finished with moisture-absorbing AEROREADY technology, keeping them dry on the pitch or when worn as their everyday style.
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It’s a muggy evening in east London, and the West Ham supporters are making a decent racket.
Some more pre-match reading
In case you missed it, the new Serie A season started with fifty shades of drama and entertainment.
“Evenin,” says Dean Kinsella. “I’m a bit surprised that Iheanacho has started the season as a bench-warmer. He had a fairly spectacular second half of last season.”
I guess there are two reasons – the return of Harvey Barnes and all the defensive injuries, both of which make it harder to play 3-4-1-2. When they play one up, it’s always going to be Vardy. I suspect that, once he has more centre-backs available, Brendan Rodgers will switch between 3-4-1-2 and 4-2-3-1.
Pre-match reading
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Team news
Both teams are unchanged, next. Timothy Castagne, who fractured an eye socket during Euro 2020, is back on the Leicester bench.
West Ham (4-2-3-1) Fabianski; Coufal, Dawson, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Rice, Soucek; Bowen, Fornals, Benrahma; Antonio.
Substitutes: Areola, Diop, Fredericks, Johnson, Baptiste, Lanzini, Noble, Coventry, Yarmolenko.
Leicester (4-2-3-1) Schmeichel; Pereira, Amartey, Soyuncu, Thomas; Tielemans, Ndidi; Perez, Maddison, Barnes; Vardy.
Substitutes: Ward, Castagne, Albrighton, Choudhury, Praet, Dewsbury-Hall, Soumare, Iheanacho, Daka.
Referee Michael Oliver.
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of West Ham v Leicester from the London Stadium. It’s wrong to say these two teams, who finished sixth and fifth last season, were the best of the rest. Actually, they were the rest of the best. If we’re going to celebrate and capitalise the Big Six, then we should give due credit when other sides inconvenience that particular cabal - especially as West Ham and Leicester were both only one win away from qualifying from the Champions League.
Their task now is to do it again, or in Leicester’s case to stay the course a bit longer. They have finished fifth in each of the last two seasons, having been in the top four for most of the season. But whether they manage that or not, they have enough good things in place to hang around the upper echelons of the Premier League and threaten the whole BS concept.
West Ham’s challenge is to show that last season wasn’t the kind of happy one-off that will make hardended Cockneys go all sentimental when they are in their dotage. They started with an impressive 4-2 win at Newcastle, while Leicester beat Wolves and kept a clean sheet despite missing four of their best defenders. They had a grotesque injury last season, too, yet Brendan Rodgers complained far less than some other managers. It’s not only Leicester’s successes that go under the radar.
Kick off 8pm.
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