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Ruud van Nistelrooy has a great start with Leicester.

Ruud van Nistelrooy had a great start as Leicester manager with a 3-1 victory over West Ham, whose manager Julen Lopetugui is under mounting pressure.

Van Nistelrooy replaced Steve Cooper at the King Power Stadium, and Jamie Vardy opened the scoring after just 98 seconds.

Bilal El Khannouss and Patson Daka scored after the break to help the Dutchman get off to a strong start.

His aim is to keep the Foxes in the Premier League this season, and after snapping a five-game losing streak, they climbed up to 15th place, four points clear of the relegation zone.

As the jury is still out on Lopetegui, West Ham's management will have experienced the impact of a managerial change, with away fans screaming "You're getting sacked in the morning".

Niclas Fullkrug scored a late consolation goal, but it was in vain, and the Spaniard's future is uncertain with games against Wolves, Bournemouth, Brighton, and Southampton.

When Van Nistelrooy went to bed yesterday night, he never imagined his team would start as brilliantly as they did, leading with less than two minutes remaining.


One of the Dutchman's first chats after his appointment was to criticize Vardy for breaking his record of scoring in the most consecutive Premier League games nine years ago.

And the veteran striker rolled back the years, racing free from El Khannouss' through-ball and slotting into the corner while riding the West Ham defense's shoulder.

The linesman's flag was instantly raised, but a long VAR review determined Vardy had perfectly timed his run, and the goal remained.

Vardy could have added a second with a similar move, but Lukasz Fabianski stopped him.

The Dutchman swiftly discovered about his team's flaws as West Ham created a slew of chances in pursuit of an equalizer.

Jarrod Bowen pushed Mads Hermansen into a reaching save as he cut in from the right before Ings' header hit the post and Max Kilman slipped at the key moment from the rebound.

Bowen, a continuous menace, fired a ball across the face of goal that eluded everyone before the England international was denied by a quick save by Hermansen.

The Danish goalkeeper had to be quick to push away Mohammed Kudus' deflected shot early in the second half before being spared by the referee's whistle after his attempted punch flew into his own goal, with Tomas Soucek being penalized.

Leicester remained a threat on the counter-attack, which is how they increased their lead shortly after the hour.

Kasey McAteer was set clear down the left, and his pass inside was excellent for El Khannouss to reach the bottom corner from 15 yards out.

It was nearly three when Fabianski made an acrobatic stop on Wilfred Ndidi's header, and Leicester required incredible defending to maintain their 2-0 lead.

Crysencio Summerville bundled the ball goalwards, and it was about to cross the line until Conor Coady adjusted his feet and punched it away.

The Foxes, who also had a goal disallowed by VAR for substitute Bobby De Cordova-Reid, sealed the deal in the 90th minute when Daka broke clear and emphatically converted into the top of the net.

West Ham did get on the board when Fullkrug headed in a corner kick, but the game was already over.

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