West Ham United booked a very costly victory in the battle for European football on Sunday. The number four in the Premier League beat number three Leicester City at home: 3-2. Both clubs are virtually qualified for the Champions League; Leicester is still two points ahead of number four Chelsea and West Ham one point. Jesse Lingard was of great value to West Ham with two goals.
West Ham owed the victory to the utmost precision. Had to play after an hour the Hammers fired four attempts, three of which resulted in a goal. The opening goal came from Lingard, who suddenly took a pass back from Vladimir Coufal out of the air at the edge of the penalty area. Two minutes before the break, Lingard himself doubled the margin. That goal came from a nice long ball from defender Issa Diop. He launched Jarrod Bowen, who suddenly appeared in front of the target with Lingard. After a wide pass from Bowen, it was easy for the Manchester United mercenary to sign for the 2-0.
Shortly after the hiatus, Bowen seemed to make the decision himself. The striker received the ball in the penalty area from Tomás Soucek, was free in front of goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and found the right corner. Shortly afterwards, Diop seemed to head in the fourth goal after a tight cross from Lingard, but after watching the video images, the arbitration ruled that it was offside. Twenty minutes before time it was hit on the other side. Ricardo Pereira conquered the ball and found Kelechi Iheanacho, who fired in from outside the penalty area. In the first minute of the six-minute injury time, Iheanacho even made it 3-2 at the far post, but that was it.
Lingard’s advance is remarkable. At the end of January he made the switch from Manchester United to West Ham on a rental basis; he did not play for a minute this season the Red Devils in the Premier League. The 27-time international of England did not appear in the plans of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but shines in the shirt of West Ham. He has scored eight goals in nine league games and has already passed players like Sadio Mané (seven), Richarlison (six), Jack Grealish (six), Roberto Firmino (six), Timo Werner (five) and Kevin De Bruyne (five). top scorers list.
| No. | Team | M. | W. | G. | V. | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City | 32 | 23 | 5 | 4 | 44 | 74 |
| 2 | Manchester United | 30 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 25 | 60 |
| 3 | Leicester City | 31 | 17 | 5 | 9 | 18 | 56 |
| 4 | West Ham United | 31 | 16 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 55 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 31 | 15 | 9 | 7 | 19 | 54 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 31 | 15 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 52 |
| 7 | Tottenham Hotspur | 30 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 19 | 49 |
| 8 | Everton | 29 | 14 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 47 |
| 9 | Leeds United | 31 | 14 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 45 |
| 10 | Aston Villa | 30 | 13 | 5 | 12 | 10 | 44 |
| 11 | Arsenal | 30 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 5 | 42 |
| 12 | Wolverhampton W. | 31 | 10 | 8 | 13 | -10 | 38 |
| 13 | Crystal Palace | 31 | 10 | 8 | 13 | -19 | 38 |
| 14 | Southampton | 30 | 10 | 6 | 14 | -14 | 36 |
| 15 | Burnley | 31 | 8 | 9 | 14 | -17 | 33 |
| 16 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 30 | 7 | 11 | 12 | -5 | 32 |
| 17 | Newcastle United | 31 | 8 | 8 | 15 | -19 | 32 |
| 18 | Fulham | 32 | 5 | 11 | 16 | -18 | 26 |
| 19 | West Bromwich Albion | 30 | 4 | 9 | 17 | -34 | 21 |
| 20 | Sheffield United | 30 | 4 | 2 | 24 | -35 | 14 |
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