West Ham 4-1 Leicester: Player ratings as Hammers go top of the Premier League

West Ham made it two wins from two to start the new Premier League season, beating Leicester at the London Stadium.

The Foxes played more than half of the game with 10 players after Ayoze Perez was correctly sent off in the first half following a VAR intervention.

The Hammers were already on top and had taken the lead before that through a sweeping Pablo Fornals finish by the time the red card came, which meant it was always going to be an uphill battle for Leicester to get anything from the game.

Shortly before half-time Perez was guilty of recklessly going over the top of the ball and planting his foot on Fornals’ shin and ankle. Referee Michael Oliver was advised to take another look at the incident and quickly decided to produce a red card after only a couple of views.

West Ham’s game plan had worked a treat up to that point, allowing Leicester plenty of the ball at the back and trying to break after winning it. That was exactly how the goal was scored, while the hosts then took more control of the ball once they had a man advantage.

Leicester gifted the second West Ham goal when Michail Antonio intercepted a back-pass and set up Said Benrahma. The visitors did pull one back against the run of play through Youri Tielemans, but it only offered brief hope because a clinical Antonio then netted two fine goals of his own to become West Ham’s all-time leading Premier League scorer.

Here’s a closer look at how both sets of players individually fared…

West Ham

1. Goalkeeper & defenders

Lukasz Fabianski (GK) 6/10: Had precious little to do for the most part.

Vladimir Coufal (RB) 7/10: Good at both ends of the pitch, as has come to be expected.

Craig Dawson (CB) 6/10: Posed more of a threat in Leicester’s box from set-pieces than any meaningful defending he had to do.

Angelo Ogbonna (CB) 6/10: A more comfortable night than he was probably expecting.

Aaron Cresswell (LB) 6/10: Regularly had the ball in advanced positions on the left, looking to cross.

2. Midfielders

Declan Rice (CM) 7/10: His interception won the ball back to start the move that allowed the Hammers to break the deadlock. Had a few runs forward that caused Leicester problems.

Tomas Soucek (CM) 7/10: Got forward to support the attack whenever possible.

Pablo Fornals (AM) 7/10: Started and finished the move that put West Ham into the lead and was full of energy in midfield.

3. Forwards

Jarrod Bowen (RW) 7/10: Posed a threat on the right flank with neat interplay.

Michail Antonio (ST) 9/10: Created the second Hammers goal by showing top anticipation to intercept the ball. Well worth his two goals, which showcased real ‘number nine’ instincts.

Said Benrahma (LW) 8/10: Delivered a measured low cross for Fornals to score in the first half and was rewarded with a goal for himself in the second after latching onto Antonio’s pass.

4. Substitutes

Mark Noble (CM) N/A

Andriy Yarmolenko (ST) N/A

Leicester

5. Goalkeeper & defenders

Kasper Schmeichel (GK) 7/10: Did his best to keep Leicester in the game. Made multiple saves, including one particularly fine stop to deny Antonio a close-range header.

Ricardo Pereira (RB) 5/10: Missed a great chance to score in the first half that would have equalised for Leicester and potentially given the game a completely different complexion.

Daniel Amartey (CB) 5/10: Saw an excessive amount of the ball in the first half, but it didn’t help the Foxes progress up the pitch. Not much more solid than his partner.

Caglar Soyuncu (CB) 4/10: Directly responsible for West Ham’s second goal when his blind pass back to Schmeichel was intercepted. Had other lapses that went unpunished.

Luke Thomas (LB) 5/10: Faced a tough task on the left because of Coufal’s willingness to get forward for West Ham, doubling up with Bowen.

6. Midfielders

Wilfred Ndidi (CM) 5/10: Was unusually outbattled in midfield when he is so often dominant.

Youri Tielemans (CM) 5/10: Not his usual self and was often under enormous pressure whenever he got the ball. His goal came out of the blue

James Maddison (AM) 5/10: Created the goal that gave Leicester brief hope but was pretty anonymous for large parts of the game before and after.

7. Forwards

Ayoze Perez (RW) 3/10: Did create a good chance for Leicester to score but was sent off in the first half for a reckless and dangerous tackle on Fornals.

Jamie Vardy (ST) 5/10: Visibly disappointed when he lost the ball that directly led to the opening goal. Didn’t really burst into life until after the Leicester goal but it was brief.

Harvey Barnes (LW) 6/10: Sharp going forward and was the only Leicester player who looked capable of making something happen until he was substituted relatively early.

8. Substitutes

Patson Daka (ST) 5/10: Given 25 minutes to make an impact but it was always going to be tough.

Boubakary Soumare (CM) N/A

Kelechi Iheanacho (ST) N/A

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