SAN FRANCISCO, December 11, (THEWILL) –Â West Ham put on an exhibition of their aerial prowess in a tough 2-1 win over Leeds in the English Premier League on Friday night at Elland Road.
Early drama ensued in the tie when the hosts were awarded a penalty only two minutes into the game. Leeds striker, Patrick Bamford, was brought down by Lukasz Fabianski, in goal for the Hammers, while the striker attempted to go round him and score.
Central attacking midfielder, Mateusz Klich, lined up to take the spot-kick against his Polish international teammate and very nearly wasted it when his rather tame effort was comfortably saved.
After a VAR check, however, Fabianski was deemed to have been off his line before the penalty was taken and it had to be retaken. This time, Klich promptly scored, sending the keeper the wrong way.
This early setback aside, the Hammers were the better side through much of the fast-paced, post-to-post first half, creating a plethora of opportunities to score.
That pressure paid off handsomely when midfielder Tomas Soucek rose high to head the equaliser from a Jarrod Bowen corner in the 25th minute.
Having drawn level, David Moyes,’ side were less dominant in the second half. But, they finally went ahead in the 80th minute when a powerful header from centre back, Angelo Ogbonna, met a delightful cross from Aaron Cresswell, West Ham’s left back.
With this victory, the Hammers move up to fifth on the table on 20 points, while Leeds stay put in 14th place.
West Ham will play hosts to Crystal Palace on Wednesday night in their next fixture and Leeds will be home to Newcastle earlier that evening.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
