Rarely does a whole stadium fall into a near-silence quite like the one which engulfed the London Stadium this afternoon as James Maddison sat on the grass.
This week, in his own words, had presented a dream come true. The boy from Coventry was going to the World Cup. Richly deserved too, given the catalogue of outstanding displays he has compiled across the course of 2022.
But on this warm November afternoon in east London it was England boss Gareth Southgate who was left sweating, with Maddison’s World Cup dreams seemingly in tatters.
James Maddison opened the scoring for Leicester before being substituted through injury having gone down holding his knee
Leicester star James Maddison (middle) has been subbed off against West Ham having put the Foxes in-front in the capital
Thankfully Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers was able to give Southgate an easier night’s sleep, confirming the decision to replace him just before the half-hour mark was precautionary.
‘I spoke to our doctor and he said he’s fine,’ Rodgers said post-match. ‘He hasn’t trained a great deal since the Everton game and he just felt a little knock on his knee. It was precautionary.
‘We could’ve maybe let him play on but I didn’t want to put the risk in that for him and the team.’
That news will be a huge relief for Southgate as even in the short time he was on the pitch, Maddison was able to show his class.
The 25-year-old started and finished the move which led to the opening goal of the game. His close-range finish past Lukasz Fabianksi was his seventh goal of the season and the perfect way to celebrate a fairy-tale week.
20 minutes later and it seemed disaster had struck when the midfielder slumped to the floor, holding the back of that troublesome knee. The look etched across his face, one of dismay, suggested the worst.
Had this not been the last game before a major tournament, the midfielder may have soldiered on. It is to Rodgers’ credit that he opted to substitute Maddison to protect his chances of being involved in Qatar.
The visitors surrendered some control with the departure of Maddison and Said Benrahma almost opened the scoring, twisting and turning before forcing a low save from Danny Ward.
The hosts’ dominance grew and they thought they had made it count, when Tomas Soucek had the ball in the net. But he rightly saw the linesman’s flag raised after the creator, Jarrod Bowen, had crept off-side in the build-up.
West Ham skipper and England teammate Declan Rice (right) consoled Maddison on the turf at the London Stadium
Harvey Barnes scored in the second-half to clinch all three points for the visitors as Leicester eased to victory over West Ham
Pressure continues to grow on West Ham boss David Moyes following a ninth league defeat of the season against Leicester
It was starting to feel all too familiar for West Ham and manager David Moyes, who had bemoaned his side’s wastefulness in the build-up to the game and they were nearly made to pay for their lack of cutting edge.
A clumsy challenge by Craig Dawson was initially not deemed a penalty by referee Jarred Gillett. But after being sent to the pitch side monitor by VAR referee Chris Kavanagh, Gillett saw the clear contact between Dawson and the boot of Patson Daka and duly pointed to the spot.
But Youri Tielemans was denied from 18 yards by Fabianksi, who came out on top on his 150th appearance for the Hammers.
West Ham had plenty of half-chances in the second-half but rarely did they truly trouble Leicester’s backline. Instead they became vulnerable to being caught on the break and ultimately chanced their arm one too many times.
Ayoze Perez slipped through Harvey Barnes who finished coolly past Fabianski to secure the Foxes’ third successive away win and cap a remarkable run for Rodgers’ side.
Hammers captain Rice (left) cuts a disgruntled figure as Leicester score their second goal of the afternoon to inflict defeat
Leicester players led by Barnes (left) celebrate doubling their advantage against West Ham at the London Stadium
This was a team, in mid-October, who sat bottom and were unable to keep out the goals. But just a few weeks on they are one of the league’s form sides built on the foundations of a solid defence, typified by this performance which was their third clean sheet in a row.
Rodgers’ was serenaded at full-time by the travelling support which was likely to have included some who had called for his head earlier this season. ‘I didn’t see any banners,’ Rodgers joked in reference to the ones some Leicester fans had held up calling for him to leave. ‘They must be put in the shed in the last couple of weeks.
‘It’s great for the supporters because they’ve had a tough start but now they’re proud of their team. Sometimes when a manager is under pressure and you’re not getting the result, usually in this world this is when betrayal kicks in. But that was never the case at Leicester, everyone was very supportive and believed in the process.’
While this result means Rodgers’ side head into the World Cup break full of confidence, the overriding feeling for many Leicester fans at the London Stadium will be one of relief for Maddison.
He has given those supporters countless wonderful moments in a Leicester shirt – a spark of inspiration even in the dark moments at the start of this season. They were looking forward to seeing one of their own take football’s biggest stage by storm.
To see his opportunity cruelly taken away from him would have been a gut-wrenching blow for them too. Thankfully their worst fears don’t appear to have been realised.
Leicester were the better team in the top-flight encounter as West Ham suffered a third consecutive Premier League loss
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