West Ham United secured a 2-0 win against Leicester City in Saturday's Premier League clash at Upton Park.
Andy Carroll opened the scoring in the first half with a deft chip over Foxes goalkeeper Ben Hamer, following a failed Paul Konchesky back-pass.
Four minutes before the hour mark, Stewart Downing curled a long-range shot home to double the Hammers' lead, while goalkeeper Adrian kept a clean sheet after impressive saves from David Nugent and Leonardo Ulloa late on.
The result keeps Sam Allardyce's side in the Premier League's top four, while Leicester are faced with spending Christmas at the foot of the table.
Here, Sports Mole analyses the game to determine whether West Ham were worthy winners.
Match statistics
WEST HAM
Shots: 10
On target: 2
Possession: 47%
Corners: 9
Fouls: 8
LEICESTER CITY
Shots: 10
On target: 4
Possession: 53%
Corners: 4
Fouls: 17
Was the result fair?
Up until about the 85th minute, the answer to this question would have been a resounding "yes". However, the visitors had two brilliant chances late on which forced Hammers goalkeeper Adrian to pull off two fantastic saves, when they could have so easily been pegged back. Leicester edged it in terms of possession too, but, ultimately, the hosts took their chances well and kept firm at the back, while the Premier League's bottom side were second best for most of the game.
West Ham's performance
Adrian was excellent in between the sticks, pulling off a great save from Riyad Mahrez in the first half before his two stunning stops in the latter stages of the game, and he commanded his area well throughout too. The Hammers defence was a bit shaky at times, with James Tomkins guilty of the error that set up the Algerian in the 39th minute, and the rest also jittery. The midfield and attack were efficient and dangerous, with Downing and Carroll in particularly great form throughout.
Leicester's performance
Not as bad as their league standing suggests. Hamer was decent enough in goal, though he could have done better for West Ham's first as he went down early, but could do nothing against Downing's wonderful strike. In the back four, only Wes Morgan had a decent game, with the other three coming off second best against the hosts' powerful attack, and Konchesky's poor back-pass set the Hammers on their way. The front line played well enough, with Mahrez, Danny Drinkwater and Jeffrey Schlupp having good games, while the substitutions were also effective. They just came up short, but were unlucky to have faced a West Ham goalkeeper who was at the top of his game today.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Andy Carroll: The England man was rumoured to be on his way out of West Ham in the summer, which seems daft looking back now as he was fantastic this afternoon. Even though he missed a sitter midway through the first half, he redeemed himself almost instantly with his chipped goal over Hamer, and continued to run himself into the ground throughout the rest of the game.
Biggest gaffe
Paul Konchesky's awful back-pass in the first half proved the perfect assist for Carroll. It was not the only defensive gaffe in the match, and the West Ham striker still had to do more to actually get the ball into the goal, but it had the biggest implication on the game, as Leicester were actually playing well before then.
Referee performance
Martin Atkinson had to keep tabs on proceedings when a series of crunching tackles, particularly Jamie Vardy's fouls on Alex Song, could have seen things boil over, but the bookings that he handed out were fair enough. Aside from that, it was a largely anonymous performance for him, which is a good thing in football.
What next?
West Ham: The Hammers, currently fourth in the Premier League table, will travel to leaders Chelsea on Boxing Day.
Leicester: The Foxes, who will spend Christmas at the foot of the Premier League, host Tottenham Hotspur on Boxing Day.
Giuseppe Labellarte
