Leicester Second Win

Leicester City's impressive start to life under Claudio Ranieri continued with a 2-1 Barclays Premier League victory at West Ham United.

Building on their emphatic 4-2 opening-day win over Sunderland, Leicester took a deserved 27th-minute lead in east London as Japan forward Shinji Okazaki scored his first for the club. Riyad Mahrez was a two-goal hero for City last time out and the Algeria winger was on target once more to give Ranieri's men breathing space at the interval.

West Ham were shock victors over Arsenal in their opening match but rarely threatened to scale the same heights on this outing. Dimitri Payet halved the deficit 10 minutes into the second half with his first goal for the club but could not prevent West Ham's final league campaign at the Boleyn Ground from getting off to an anti-climactic start, with a red card for goalkeeper Adrian in stoppage time compounding a miserable afternoon.

Carl Jenkinson replaced James Tomkins, after being ineligible against Arsenal, in West Ham's only change. Having won numerous plaudits on his BPL debut at Arsenal, Reece Oxford almost handed Slaven Bilic's team a perfect start when he headed Payet's free-kick against the top of the crossbar.

Jamie Vardy started in an unchanged Leicester side and the England forward was booked in the 11th minute for a rash challenge on Adrian. The West Ham goalkeeper recovered sufficiently to thwart Mahrez at the end of a jinking run in the 26th minute and pushed Robert Huth's hooked effort from the resulting corner around a post.

But Leicester were rewarded for a promising spell with Okazaki’s goal. The forward’s volley from Vardy's left-wing cross was initially brilliantly saved by Adrian, but Okazaki headed in at the second attempt.

He was also involved in Leicester's well-worked second in the 38th minute, feeding Marc Albrighton, who burst into the West Ham box and cut the ball back for Mahrez to sweep home.

The hosts had strong penalty appeals waved away in first-half stoppage time as Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel collided with the on-rushing Diafra Sakho.

Mahrez also had a claim for a spot-kick rejected in the 54th minute as his latest dribble caused further disarray among the West Ham defence, but Bilic's men had a lifeline shortly afterwards.

Payet's initial shot from Mark Noble's low cross was blocked but Cheikhou Kouyate teed up the former Marseille midfielder to clatter his second strike emphatically into the top-left corner.

The West Ham faithful roared their team forward in search of the equaliser and an unmarked Sakho headed tamely at Schmeichel. Ranieri removed Okazaki and introduced N'Golo Kante, who shored up the Leicester midfield to good effect.

Danny Drinkwater passed up the chance to add a third after more excellent work by Mahrez before City were indebted to an excellent stop from the relatively unemployed Schmeichel.

A loose ball broke to Sakho in the penalty area but the forward was denied from point-blank range as he lost his footing and Leicester, who lost on all six of their visits to the capital last season, would suffer no further London heartache.

Schmeichel's opposite number Adrian endured a more forgettable conclusion to the contest, plunging his studs into Vardy's stomach, having come up for a stoppage-time corner, to receive a red card.

West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic: "It is a bad result of course after a good start. We didn't play good enough in the first half. We started well but after that we were second best.

"We lost the game in the first half. Two-nil down is very difficult to come back from and we are very disappointed."

Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri: "All the match was good for us. We are playing well. All the players play like a team, they play with the ball on the ground and it is important to increase our stamina and fitness, and also our mentality.

"We are working very hard with the defensive line. I have very good players in front, very fast but it is important we all stay together.

"I didn't want to defend too deep but when you see your players go deep it is better to help them with their mentality."