Bowen inspires West Ham to victory over struggling Leeds

[1/2] Soccer Football – Premier League – West Ham United v Leeds United – London Stadium, London, Britain – May 21, 2023 West Ham United’s Jarrod Bowen celebrates scoring their second goal Action Images… Read more

LONDON, May 21 (Reuters) – West Ham United forward Jarrod Bowen set up one goal and scored another to inspire his side to a 3-1 Premier League victory at the London Stadium on Sunday and deepen the relegation crisis at Leeds United.

Declan Rice and Manuel Lanzini were also on the scoresheet for the hosts as they rallied from a goal down after Rodrigo had given the visitors a first-half lead.

Leeds remain in the relegation zone with 31 points from 37 games, two points behind 17th-placed Everton with the home visit of Tottenham Hotspur on the final day of the season next Sunday. Everton welcome Bournemouth to Goodison Park.

It completes an excellent week for West Ham, who climb to 14th in the table having booked their place in the Europa Conference League final with a win over AZ Alkmaar.

“If you look back on Thursday night, the first 15-20 took its toll on us and we were probably not 100% but as the game went on we completely dominated and in the end could have had six or seven, just wasteful with chances,” Rice told Sky Sports.

“I had a funny feeling I would score. I think it is my best goalscoring season. I made a lot of runs into the box today and I just need to keep adding that to my game.”

Leeds were ahead in the 17th minute when Weston McKennie’s long throw was volleyed into the net from 12-yards by Rodrigo, a sublime finish against a static West Ham defence.

The home side responded when Rice, in what could be his final home game for West Ham before a summer move, produced a neat finish at the back post from Bowen’s cross.

Leeds lost striker Patrick Bamford to injury 10 minutes before the end of the first half, a potential blow for next week’s match against Tottenham, and they failed to apply much pressure on the West Ham goal after that.

The home side dominated possession and hit the front with 18 minutes remaining as Danny Ings slipped Bowen in on goal with an excellent pass and the forward found the far corner with the outside of his left boot.

The points were sealed during injury-time when some brilliant footwork from Lucas Paqueta on the right wing saw him beat several defenders before laying on a tap-in for substitute Lanzini.

They might have added another very late on when Paqueta had a clear run on goal and instead of shooting, tried to play in Rice for his second, but the ball was behind the midfielder.

“Obviously very disappointing,” Leeds manager Sam Allardyce said. “We had opportunities to get three points in the first half but unfortunately failings in the final third let us down.

“The second half was a bit of a battle, a bit of a struggle and then whatever we tried in terms of changes didn’t improve the situation for us.”

Reporting by Nick Said, editing by Pritha Sarkar

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