“Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you”.
So said Satchel Paige, a star pitcher in Negro League baseball who eventually, at the age of 42, became the youngest rookie in the history of the Major Leagues. He played until he was 47.
For the vast majority of my time in Claret & Blue, I’ve looked back. Or shall I say down, because the distance between us and the relegation zone has been the measure of our success. Last year was a wonderful, notable exception, and other than the first month I enjoyed it immensely. With the recent accumulation of points, it would be tempting to have a glance up. But I can’t do it. Because if I do, if I start wondering how high we can fly as opposed to staying concerned about our dreams fading and dying, then things will start to go wrong. And it will be my fault for tempting the football gods.
Bilic named an unchanged starting eleven from the win at Swansea, and while it’s understandable it’s equally harsh on Obiang. Who would sit to make room for the Spaniard?
I’m not going there…..
Leicester turned the art of counter attacking football into a title last season, and even with Vardy suspended their modus operandi was front and center in the second minute when a long ball to Slimani was fed into the box for Mahrez who forced a good save from Randolph. Two minutes later, the Man Of The Match against Hull came through again when Albrighton raced down the right and sent a cross to Slimani, whose header clanged off the post. It should be noted, I think, that Payet was supposed to mark the run of Albrighton but chose to watch him instead.
Antonio was able to give West Ham a respite from the Leicester barrage by winning a free kick thirty yards from goal. The free kick was low, but Antonio was able to win a corner. Payet’s delivery was good, but Carroll mistimed his jump and the ball glanced his Bun as opposed to clanging off his forehead.
West Ham missed a glorious opportunity in the 11th minute when Cresswell sent in a fantastic cross that snaked through three Leicester defenders and right to Antonio. But the Hammers leading goal scorer was more surprised than anyone the ball found him and he shinned his effort over the bar.
For the past few years, we were constantly linked with two players. Tore and Slimani. I’m not going to act like I knew one move would have been better than the other, and today is the first time I’ve ever watched Slimani play. Based on the opening twenty minutes, we had reason for regret. In the 20th minute, with Payet again watching Albrighton speed down the right, the man without an assist so far this season sent a perfect cross to the far post that Slimani headed home, and for only the fifth time all season Leicester City were in the lead.
Leicester City 1
West Ham 0
Right around the 30th minute, West Ham had a few minutes of possession. Lots of passes side to side, a few backwards. Yet nobody moved forward to offer a target for a pass. Eventually, a simple pass from Noble to Payet rolled out and the possession was over.
Despite the disjointed attack and weak defending, West Ham should have gone level in the 37th minute when a broken play came close to landing in the back of the net. A through ball to Antonio was intercepted by Simpson, but right into the path of Payet on the left side of the Leicester eighteen yard box. Payet’s shot was saved by Scmeichel but the rebound rolled to Ayew ten yards in front of goal. The West Ham record signing couldn’t sort out his feet and after some pinball wizardry Leicester cleared. Minutes later, after some superb interplay between Cresswell and Payet, the West Ham left back sent a superb cross that Antonio volleyed off the bar.
Leicester came storming back on one of their trademark counters, and Slimani looked a dead cert to double the Leicester lead when Albrighton sent a cross to the Algerian but Nordtveit timed his defensive challenge so perfectly one would think we was an actual, well, right back.
With the game wide open at that point, West Ham broke with numbers. Antonio charged down the right like a locomotive, with Ayew breaking into the box. Antonio tried to thread a pass to Ayew in front of goal but Simpson put a leg to it and West Ham couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity.
In the final minutes of the opening forty five, the sides traded yellow cards and free kicks. First Huth was booked for a crunching tackle on Payet, and the Frenchman forced a good save from Schmeichel. When Leicester broke on a counter with Gray and Slimani, Ogbonna gave a master class on cynical fouling when he reached back and simply pulled Gray down from behind. Randolph then showed why he has replaced Adrian as the number one keeper when he dove to palm Mahrez’s free kick over the bar. His positioning and reaction were pure quality.
Halftime
Leicester City 1
West Ham 0
In the opening minutes of the second half, Leicester were more than a little lucky to still have their full complement of players on the pitch when Amartey went into a challenge on Noble with his boot closer to our captains nose than the ball before it slammed into his knee. Lanzini was told to get ready, but Noble carried on for a little while before The Jewel entered the match.
At least from a ball possession perspective, West Ham began the second half brightly. Considering that we often have begun second halves slowly, just avoiding a quick second goal by the home side was a bit of a relief. But the lack of movement up front often meant that attacks ended before they could begin.
The addition of Lanzini did signal that West Ham were going to push forward. With Ayew somewhat ineffective, Bilic added Feghouli to the mix in the hope of providing more service to the big man in the middle. Moments after entering the game, Feghouli won a free kick just outside the Leicester eighteen yard box. Cresswell stepped up to take it, and his low drive took a deflection and came an inch away from leveling the match but Schmeichel was able to go low and make the save.
In the 71st minute, referee Anthony Taylor officially lost control of the match when Nordtveit slammed into Chilwell with a move that would have been more than normal in UFC or maybe WWE. But in football, such karate kicks normally see red. And just as Amartey didn’t deserve to still be playing, neither did Nordtveit.
West Ham won two quick corners in the 74th minute. Both taken by Payet, and both utterly useless. The first, like most of the other corners taken by the visitors today, didn’t clear the first man and the second flew like a plane with one wing.
To both managers credit, they made positive changes in the late stages. Bilic added the lively Fernandes, while Ranieri threw on Okazaki and Ulloa in search of a second goal.
West Ham won another free kick in a dangerous area in the 83rd minute when Simpson dragged down Antonio on the left side. Payet stepped up to take the free kick, and yet again it caused Leicester City no bother at all. Moments later Carroll had his only look at goal all day when Cresswell found him in front of Schmeichel. Carroll tried to beat the Leicester keeper to the near post but sent his header wide.
The hosts came close to doubling their lead in the final minutes of normal time and effectively ending the match but a good defensive header by Nordtveit and then a block by Reid in the box kept West Ham in the game.
In the third of six minutes of added time, Antonio won a corner off of Simpson and this time the delivery at least found a West Ham player in Ogbonna but his header was cleared away by the man who allowed the chance in the first place, Simpson. A minute later, Antonio tried to hit Carroll in the box with a cross but Schmeichel came out to intercept, with a scrape from Carroll’s hand across his face as a reminder of how crazy it is to be a goalkeeper.
Final Score
Leicester City 1
West Ham 0
West Ham showed lots of endeavor and energy after going down a goal, and despite not finishing one of the few chances they created or asking enough difficult questions in general, the performance was far better than the wins against either Burnley or Hull. On another day, Antonio’s shot goes in and Cresswell’s free kick is an inch more to the left. Yes, Leicester could have been up two or three before the twenty minute mark, but overcoming that dominance as well as the goal is still enough of a positive to allow me to enjoy the rest of my day and evening instead of wallowing in defeat. Well, I’ll wallow a bit. It’s what I do best.
Happy New Year.