West Ham handed relegation-threatened Leicester its fourth straight Premier League loss by beating Ruud van Nistelrooy’s team 2-0.
Leicester failed to score in each of those defeats — and allowed a total of 12 goals — to remain 19th in the standings, five points from safety. The Foxes have lost 11 of their past 12 league games.
Tomas Soucek scored in the 21st minute for the home team at London Stadium and the Hammers doubled the lead when Jarrod Bowen’s strike deflected off Jannik Vestergaard for an own goal just before halftime. Leicester shook up its coaching staff after last Friday’s 4-0 home loss to Brentford but kept Van Nistelrooy in charge.
In 14 Premier League games under the Dutch manager, Leicester has two wins, one draw and 11 losses.
“We were way too passive,” Van Nistelrooy told TNT Sports. “Of course we’re in a situation where we’re not winning games and we’re in a situation where we are in the bottom three, and the pressure’s on. But I think the way to get out of it is to literally move forward — on the pitch as well. We have to take initiative.”
West Ham moved past Everton into 15th place and has recorded back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time this season.
Graham Potter, who replaced the fired Julen Lopetegui as manager seven weeks ago, said Thursday’s victory was a “professional performance,” following up from a 1-0 victory at Arsenal last Saturday.
“For us, we’re just delighted with two wins, two clean sheets and six points,” he said of the mini-run.
