King has last word to see off Hammers
WEST HAM goalkeeper Adrian flung himself left, right and centre to keep his side from being hammered in their Capital One Cup tie against Leicester.
The Spaniard clawed his and West Ham’s way through this tie at the King Power Stadium, stopping Leicester’s onslaught with limb, toe or fingertips.
But his brave resistance was finally ended deep into extra time when Leicester’s Andy King leapt highest to Christian Fuchs’s high ball to power a header into the top corner and send the home side into the fourth round.
Earlier Joe Dodoo had beaten Adrian with an early strike before Mauro Zarate levelled for the visitors.
Dodoo continued where he left off in the last round — when he scored a hat-trick on his debut against Bury — by scoring on six minutes.
The 20-year-old is being regularly talked up by manager Claudio Ranieri and the calmness with which he finished the opener explains why. A ball ricocheted towards him with plenty of swerve but, nine yards from goal, he struck it first time into the bottom left corner.
In the 22nd minute, Leicester’s Andrej Kramaric, given a rare start, dribbled from the halfway line and embarrassed Collins with a stepover, only to scoop his shot tamely into Adrian’s hands.
However, for all the home side’s pressure, West Ham levelled on 27 minutes. Zarate received the ball from Manuel Lanzini with his back to goal and he shot early, with the outside of his left boot, his effort going in off Leicester’s Marcin Wasilewski. The visitors came close again 10 minutes later when Aaron Cresswell’s free-kick was spilled by Mark Schwarzer, who recovered just in time with Andy Carroll, making his first start for eight months, lurking to poke in a rebound.
Leicester dominated after the break. Marc Albrighton powered a shot when the ball came out from a corner. Adrian stopped with his leg and was at full stretch diving low to his left to keep out Leonardo Ulloa’s header just after the hour, but the visitors held on to take the game to extra time.
LEICESTER (4-3-3): Schwarzer 6; Simpson 6, Benalouane 6, Wasilewski 5.5, Fuchs 6; King 7, Inler 6, Albrighton 7.5 (Schlupp 68min, 6); Dodoo 7.5 (Kante 82), Ulloa 7.5, Kramaric 7 (Mahrez 82). Subs not used: Schmeichel, De Laet, Chilwell, Blyth. Scorers: Dodoo 6, King 116. Booked: Fuchs, Simpson, Schlupp, Wasilewski.
WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Adrian 9; Jenkinson 6, Tomkins 6, Collins 5.5, Cresswell 6; Obiang 6 (Reid 113), Noble 5.5; Moses 6.5 Lanzini 6.5, Zarate 7.5 (Kouyate 75); Carroll 6 (Payet 64 6).). Subs not used: Randolph, Oxford, Lee, Cullen. Scorer: Zarate 27. Booked: Zarate, Obiang, Noble.
Man of the match: Adrian. Referee: Peter Bankes 7.