Soccer

Premier League round-up: Ruud van Nistelrooy enjoys winning start with Leicester

Clinical Mateta dashes Ipswich’s hopes in first away win for Crystal Palace

Leicester City's Jamie Vardy celebrates scoring his side's first goal during the Premier League game against West Ham at the King Power Stadium. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA Wire
Leicester City's Jamie Vardy celebrates scoring his side's first goal during the Premier League game against West Ham at the King Power Stadium. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA Wire
Tue Dec 03 2024 - 22:37
Leicester City 3 [Vardy 20, El Khannouss 61, Daka 90] West Ham United 1 [Fullkrug 90+3]

Ruud van Nistelrooy enjoyed a dream start to his reign as Leicester manager after a 3-1 win over West Ham, whose boss Julen Lopetugui is under increasing pressure.

Van Nistelrooy has replaced Steve Cooper at the King Power Stadium and saw Jamie Vardy open the scoring after just 98 seconds.

Bilal El Khannouss and Patson Daka added goals after the break to ensure the Dutchman started with three points in style.

His task is to keep the Foxes in the Premier League this season and after ending a five-game winless run they moved up to 15th, four points clear of the relegation zone.

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West Ham’s hierarchy will have seen what impact a managerial change can have as the jury remains out on Lopetegui, with away fans making their feelings clear by chanting “You’re getting sacked in the morning”.

Niclas Fullkrug scored a consolation goal at the death but it counted for nothing and forthcoming games against Wolves, Bournemouth, Brighton and Southampton could determine the Spaniard’s future.

Ipswich Town 0 Crystal Palace 1 [Mateta 59]

Jean-Philippe Mateta fired Crystal Palace to a first Premier League away win of the season and left Ipswich still without a victory on home soil.

Mateta struck in the second half to secure a 1-0 success for the Eagles with the only real piece of quality in a nervy encounter between two struggling teams.

It is now two wins and three draws from the last six matches for Oliver Glasner’s side, whose winter revival is gathering pace nicely following a sticky start to the campaign.

However, Palace might not have come out of the match totally unscathed.

Their captain, Marc Guéhi, could be in trouble with the English Football Association for wearing a rainbow armband with ‘Jesus loves you’ written on it, having been reminded by the governing body of its strict rules on religious messages after doing similar at the weekend.

For the record, Ipswich skipper Sam Morsy again did not wear the rainbow armband, part of the Premier League’s campaign to show support for people in the LGBTQ+ community, having opted not to over the weekend due to his religious beliefs.