Leicester beat West Ham 3-1 in Ruud van Nistelrooy’s club debut

Ruud van Nistlerooy has made a strong start as Leicester City manager, guiding his new team to a 3-1 win over West Ham United in English Premier League action at King Power Stadium on Wednesday morning (AEDT).

Veteran striker Jamie Vardy sent the Leicester faithful into a frenzy — following VAR intervention — just two minutes in, finishing with precision after latching onto a well-timed through ball from Bilal El Khannouss.

It took until just after the hour mark for the hosts to double their advantage, with El Khannouss stretching to poke home Kasey McAteer’s squaring ball from the left edge of the box.

Leicester added a third through Patson Daka in the 90th minute, while West Ham grabbed an injury-time consolation goal through German forward Niclas Fullkrug.

The Foxes endured some nervous moments throughout the contest, however, and van Nistelrooy acknowledged as much in his post-match interview.

“In the end you look at the result and the three points, in the position that we are in, it’s vital,” he said.

“With the other fixtures of this round we knew it was a big one for us.

“The result is what matters but I have also seen the game and West Ham were dominant.

“I think our fighting spirit got us through the game and we were effective in scoring. A great night.”

The result ends a run of three consecutive losses for Leicester, who appointed van Nistelrooy last week after sacking Steve Cooper.

They now sit 15th on the EPL table, one place and two points behind West Ham.

Leicester’s EPL campaign continues at home next Monday, with top soccer betting sites installing them as +375 outsiders to beat Brighton & Hove Albion (-151.52).

West Ham, meanwhile, are -105.26 favourites at Marantelli Bet for their clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers (+275) at London Stadium on Tuesday morning.

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