Leicester deepen Tottenham’s crisis as West Ham hold Aston Villa

Leicester City piled more pressure on Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou with a 2-1 victory on Sunday, extending Spurs’ dismal run to six defeats in their last seven Premier League matches. The result leaves Tottenham languishing in 15th place, just eight points above the relegation zone, as calls for Postecoglou’s dismissal grow louder.

Richarlison gave Tottenham the lead in the first half with a header from Pedro Porro’s cross, but Leicester responded swiftly after the break. Bobby De Cordova-Reid’s cross caused chaos in the Spurs box, deflecting off Jamie Vardy’s shin and past goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky just 60 seconds into the second half. Four minutes later, Bilal El Khannouss capitalized on sloppy defending, curling a superb finish into the net to seal Leicester’s first league win in eight games.

Postecoglou, whose team has won just once in their last 11 league matches, admitted the pressure is mounting. “It is a disappointing result, but at the same time I can’t ask anymore from this group of players. Some of them aren’t 100 percent, but they are trying their hardest,” he said. “Things just aren’t falling for us. It is not an atmosphere where it is easy at the moment. We’ve got to get through this as united as possible.”

Leicester manager Ruud van Nistelrooy, who replaced Steve Cooper in December, celebrated a crucial win. “It’s a massive win. The players are buying into it. I can only be very proud of this team,” he said. The victory lifts Leicester one place and one point above the relegation zone.

Elsewhere, Aston Villa’s hopes of securing Champions League qualification were dented as they were held to a 1-1 draw by West Ham. Jacob Ramsey gave Villa an early lead, but Emerson Palmieri’s second-half header earned the Hammers a point. Lucas Paqueta thought he had won it for West Ham in stoppage time, but his goal was ruled out for offside.

In another match, Brentford edged Crystal Palace 2-1 at Selhurst Park. Bryan Mbeumo scored a retaken penalty after VAR ruled Marc Guehi had encroached, and Kevin Schade added a second before Romain Esse netted a late consolation on his debut for Palace.

(Source: AFP)