Ruud van Nistelrooy off to winning start at Leicester City, Crystal Palace beat Ipswich Town in EPL

LONDON – Ruud van Nistelrooy savoured his first match in charge of Leicester City with a 3-1 English Premier League home win over West Ham United on Dec 3, while Crystal Palace edged out Ipswich Town 1-0.

Jamie Vardy, Bilal El Khannouss and Patson Daka got the goals as the Dutchman enjoyed a dream start to his new role, shortly after his departure from Manchester United.

“On a long-term basis, we know the performances need to get better. But the spirit and how we want to do things, we saw them today,” said van Nistelrooy.

“In the end, you look at the result and the three points, it’s vital.

“We know the level in the Premier League and we know every game we play that everything has to be right. We have to train and develop our defence, our counter-attack, our possession.

“Lots of things to work on but very happy with the three points.”

A lethal finisher in his playing days, van Nistelrooy watched on approvingly as Vardy opened the scoring after just 99 seconds at the King Power Stadium.

The 37-year-old had initially been flagged offside, but a video assistant referee review showed he was clearly onside for his fifth goal of the season.

Defeat ramps up the scrutiny of Hammers boss Julen Lopetegui after a seventh loss in 14 Premier League games.

The visitors enjoyed the majority of possession and had 31 shots to Leicester’s eight but failed to make it count.

“A frustrating night because we deserved much more today,” said Lopetegui. “Normally we have to win this match but we didn’t because we didn’t score (more).”

West Ham did have a goal controversially ruled out when Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen punched the ball into his own net and was relieved to be awarded a foul due to minimal contact from Tomas Soucek.

Conor Coady also cleared off the line from Crysencio Summerville in the second half.

But Leicester remained a threat on the counter-attack and doubled their lead when El Khannouss coolly stroked home Kasey McAteer’s pass.

Daka then blasted in to make it 3-0 before Niclas Fullkrug netted a late consolation with his first West Ham goal.

Elsewhere, Jean-Philippe Mateta scored the only goal at Portman Road as Palace won the battle of two more sides at the bottom end of the table.

The Frenchman produced a classy finish from Eberechi Eze’s pass just before the hour mark to secure the Eagles’ first Premier League away win of the season and just their second league win overall.

Palace pulled three points clear of the bottom three, before another set of fixtures on Dec 4, while Ipswich remain second from bottom and winless at home on their return to the top flight.

However, Palace captain Marc Guehi is now at risk of a suspension after defying a Football Association (FA) warning over displaying religious messages.

As part of the “Rainbow Laces” campaign to show support for the LGBTQ+ community, Premier League captains are wearing rainbow-coloured armbands.

Guehi’s armband bore the message “I love Jesus” during their 1-1 draw against Newcastle United last weekend, prompting the FA to contact Guehi and Palace to remind them of rules forbidding the display of religious messages.

The England defender doubled down on his message with “Jesus loves you” displayed on his rainbow-coloured armband.

“Everyone now is about integration, no discrimination and Marc as well,” said Palace boss Oliver Glasner.

“He has his opinion and we accept and respect every opinion.”

Ipswich captain Sam Morsy, who also caused controversy by opting not to wear the rainbow armband against Nottingham Forest at the weekend, once again wore a regular armband.

His club issued a statement on Dec 2 saying he chose not to wear the rainbow armband due to his religious beliefs. AFP