- West Ham United PL2 defeated Leicester City 2-0 as they began the defence of their Premier League Cup title
- Marcus Browne and Domingos Quina, with an outrageous 50-yard lobbed effort, scored the goals
- Assistant manager Liam Manning was full of praise for his team
West Ham United PL2’s 2-0 victory over Leicester City in the opening round of fixtures of the 2016/17 Premier League Cup was their best performance in a long, long time according to assistant manager Liam Manning.
The young Hammers were in scintillating form in the Group E match held at Loughborough University, outfoxing the Foxes from minute one.
Marcus Browne gave them the lead just before the hour mark with a delicate flick from a Vashon Neufville cross before Domingos Quina produced a moment of pure magic from 50 yards to seal the win.
‘We were terrific start to finish. Their [Leicester’s] coaches were very complimentary to our players and that speaks volumes for how we played today,’ said Manning.
‘It’s the best I’ve seen a West Ham group since I’ve been at the club that’s for sure.
‘I think if you look in previous games we’ve created lots of chances but at times not got it in the box quick enough or been clinical with the finish.
‘Every day we work on these things and today it showed the extra work we’ve been doing has paid off.’
The Hammers won this competition in dramatic style last season after a thrilling penalty shootout victory over Hull City and they picked up where they left off in some style.
Terry Westley welcomed back Reece Oxford at the heart of the defence, partnering Declan Rice, and Jaanai Gordon came in for the injured Toni Martinez. Dan Kemp also made the Hammers starting eleven after impressing from the substitutes bench over recent weeks.
The opening 20 minutes followed a similar pattern from the Hammers’ previous fixture – the 0-0 draw with Brighton and Hove Albion in Premier League 2 – lots of possession and ball retention but little in the way of goalmouth action.
Alex Pike almost netted on half an hour after wonderful build-up play by Browne and Kemp and this proved the catalyst for Westley’s men to completely dominate the rest of proceedings.
Gordon and Djair Parfitt-Williams both went close before half-time and the Hammers carried on into the second half with added cutting edge.
They took the lead just before the hour mark – Browne sprayed the ball wide to Neufville who returned the ball with a delightful cross. The Hammers No10 managed to flick the ball past Foxes keeper Daniel Iversen to cause rapturous celebrations amongst the visiting players.
Then a moment that would deserve to win any football match – Domingos Quina spotted Iversen off his line and from 50 yards produced a stunning lob which dropped just underneath the crossbar and into the top corner.
It gave the Hammers a two goal cushion and they could have easily made the result more comfortable with a host of chances in the final twenty minutes.
Terry Westley’s players were well worth the three points and they open their Premier League Cup account with three points thanks to Browne and Quina’s stunning piece of skill.
‘The fact that he’s seen it with his vision and awareness is amazing. He’s still only 16 and he’s still got lots to work on but today he produced a moment of magic to get people out of their seat,’ added Manning.
‘In U23 football, you need to see players that make you think “Wow”; he’s got that. Now he needs to work on other things and push on.’