Lingard magic has West Ham dreaming
West Ham survived a Leicester comeback as they solidified their place in the top four with a 3-2 win at the London Stadium.
Jesse Lingard scored a first half brace for David Moyes’ side as his brilliant form since joining West Ham on loan continues.
Champions League football for West Ham has been a distant dream but it is now close to a reality. They fell to sixth in the table after wins for Chelsea and Liverpool but another superb display puts them back into fourth and just a point behind Leicester.
First half
The hosts went 3-0 up after 48 minutes and were rampant; causing havoc in the Leicester back line. Despite missing Declan Rice and Michail Antonio, West Ham took the game to Leicester and went ahead when Vladimir Coufal’s cut back was swept home brilliantly by Lingard in the 29th minute.
He scored with a simpler finish on the stroke of half time as Jarrod Bowen beat the offside trap and set his team mate up with a tap-in to put West Ham 2-0 up.
Second half
Lingard played a part in the third goal, finding Tomas Soucek who laid in Bowen to fire in from close range in the 48th minute.
West Ham had a goal disallowed by VAR for a tight offside, and then like the two previous games, almost surrendered a 3-0 lead.
Kelechi Iheanacho thumped in a strike from distance to pull one back, before scoring again in stoppage time to spark a grandstand finish. It was the Nigerian’s 11th goal in 11 games.
Lingard in outstanding form
The English midfielder has scored eight goals in nine Premier League games for West Ham, equalling his previous best tally for a season.
Since his debut for the Hammers, Lingard has scored or assisted 11 times in nine Premier League games, two more than any other player.
What it means
West Ham are back up to fourth and now just a point behind Leicester with seven games to go.
Stat
In 2021, only Manchester City have won more league matches than West Ham.
Featured image: Jesse Lingard of West Ham United celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Leicester City at the London Stadium. (Photo by John Walton – Pool/Getty Images)
