OFF NIGHT FOR FOXES
AYOZE RED CARD SPARKS FURY BEFORE ANTONIO HAMMERS HOME ADVANTAGE
LEICESTER were left fuming last night after seeing Ayoze Perez sent off for a controversial challenge before Michail Antonio’s late double sent rampant West Ham top of the Premier League.
Antonio bagged a brace in a 4-1 win while Pablo Fornals and Said Benrahma also netted as the Hammers made it two wins from two but there was real anger over the 40th-minute red card for Foxes forward Perez.
The Spaniard stood on Fornals’ ankle, leading to referee Michael Oliver consulting his pitchside monitor before dismissing Perez, to the fury of the Leicester players and bench. The tenman Foxes continued to be architects of their own downfall, however, as Caglar Soyuncu found Antonio with a careless back-pass soon after the break.
With Kasper Schmeichel racing back to his goal, Antonio played the ball to Benrahma and the Algerian slotted coolly home. There seemed no return for Brendan Rodgers’ men with West Ham in total control but they pulled one back with 21 minutes remaining.
James Maddison put a cross in from the left, Youri Tielemans saw his first effort come back off Aaron Cresswell but fired home at the second attempt.
But that hope did not last long as Antonio capped the Hammers’ dominance with the third on 80 minutes.
Cresswell pinged the ball to him from the left and, with his back to goal, he turned Soyuncu and drilled low past Schmeichel, celebrating with a life-size cut-out of himself from the stands, his 48th top-flight goal for the club making him their top Premier League scorer.
Four minutes later, his second sent the Hammers top, Antonio flicking the ball up in the air, beating two defenders to the ball and stabbing home.