Daka decks the halls to give Van Nistelrooy opening win
The Guardian|December 04, 2024
As one manager celebrated his first game in charge, another may have endured his last. Ruud Van Nistelrooy enjoyed a fortuitous but hard-earned victory as he could luxuriate in seeing Leicester move four points clear of the relegation zone but Julen Lopetegui must be fearing for the worst.
Peter Lansley
Daka decks the halls to give Van Nistelrooy opening win

Having spent over £100m on new players in the summer, without seeing any marked improvement in the play or results of David Moyes's team, the former Wolves manager might be relieved to still be in post by the time his previous club visit the London Stadium on Monday. West Ham appear to be moving backwards. Reading other managers have been sounded out for your job can hardly be lifting morale.

Substitutes Patson Daka, slashing home from the left corner of the box, and Niclas Füllkrug traded goals in stoppage time. The grand entrance for Van Nistelrooy presaged the best of starts for his team. Only 98 seconds had elapsed when Jamie Vardy, after striding on to Bilal El Khannouss's neat pass inside, calmly rolled the ball past Lukasz Fabianski and into the far bottom corner as the assistant referee's flag was raised. But almost another two minutes went by before the VAR adjudged the striker had been onside.

This story is from the December 04, 2024 edition of The Guardian.

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This story is from the December 04, 2024 edition of The Guardian.

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