West Ham 0-2 Leicester City: James Maddison strikes first before being subbed off injured

Whether you wore burgundy or plain royal blue, it was hard not to be deeply disappointed for James Maddison when he left the pitch at London Stadium this afternoon.

This week, he says, was a dream come true. The boy from Coventry went to the World Cup. Richly deserved, too, given the catalog of excellent displays he has put together over the course of 2022.

But on this warm November afternoon in East London, his dream seems to be falling apart.

It had also all started so well for Maddison, who started and ended the move that led to the opening goal of the game. His close-range finish over Lukasz Fabianksi was his seventh goal of the season and the perfect way to celebrate a fairytale week.

James Maddison opened the scoring for Leicester before being replaced by injury after taking his knee down

Leicester star James Maddison (center) is out against West Ham after putting the Foxes at the front of the capital

Then, 20 minutes later, disaster struck. The attacker fell from the ball to the ground and grabbed his hamstring. The look on his face, one of horror and almost disbelief, told you all you needed to know.

The Leicester physio prodded and prodded. But Maddison knew his race was over. He left the field in stunned silence in East London, comforted first by compatriot Declan Rice and then his manager Brendan Rodgers, who described Maddison as having all the joy in the world after the call.

From the moment Maddison left, the Foxes seemed to give up control and belief in the game. It also proved to be a catalyst for West Ham, who, not for the first time this season, were a meter off in the opening stages.

West Ham skipper and England teammate Declan Rice (right) comforted Maddison on the turf at London Stadium

Tomas Soucek slipped in a pass for Said Benrahma, who twisted and turned in the Leicester box before forcing Ward into a low save. Lucas Paqueta then should have done better by shooting over from 18 yards after finding room to shoot into the penalty area.

The hosts thought they had also made their dominance count when Tomas Soucek had the ball in the net. But he rightly saw the linesman’s flag hoisted after its creator, Jarrod Bowen, was sidelined in the build-up.

It was beginning to feel all too familiar to West Ham and manager David Moyes, who complained in the final third of his pre-match program note about his debauchery. And they almost had to pay for their waste again.

Harvey Barnes scored in the second half to take all three points for the visitors, while Leicester grabbed the win over West Ham.

Pressure on West Ham boss David Moyes continues to mount after ninth league defeat of the season against Leicester

An awkward challenge from Craig Dawson was not initially considered a penalty by referee Jarred Gillett. But after being sent to the monitor by VAR referee Chris Kavanagh, Gillett saw the obvious contact between Dawson and Patson Daka’s shoe and pointed to the spot.

But Youri Tielemans was refused from 18 yards by Fabianksi, who came out on top in his 150th appearance for the Hammers.

Rice, so often the man who drove the Hammers forward, was key to their first big chance of the second half. He found Thilo Kehrer on the right wing who produced a low cross that was just too far ahead of Gianluca Scamacca, whose goalless run now stretches to seven games.

Hammers captain Rice (left) cuts a disgruntled figure as Leicester score their second goal of the afternoon to inflict a defeat

Leicester players led by Barnes (left) celebrate doubling their advantage against West Ham at London Stadium

West Ham became increasingly vulnerable at half time as they pushed for the equalizer and ended up getting one too many chance on their arm. Ayoze Perez slid through Harvey Barnes, who coolly finished past Fabianski to secure the Foxes’ third straight away win.

The traveling supporters gave a well-deserved warm hug to their players full-time. But they were celebrations, you could tell, tinged with more than a hint of disappointment for Maddison.

Leicester were the better team in the top-flight encounter as West Ham lost in the Premier League for the third time in a row

He has delivered countless wonderful moments to those supporters 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 soccer teams take it by storm. It would have been a heartbreaking blow to them too to see him stumble.

Unless the move to replace Maddison turns out to have been a precaution, he will almost certainly not be ready for England’s opening game against Iran on November 21. A cruel blow indeed. This is not how his story should have ended.