Leicester 3 West Ham 1: Van Nistelrooy triumphs in first game in charge but Lopetegui one step closer to Hammers axe

THE more things change the more they stay the same – as long as Jamie Vardy is around.

The 37-year got Ruud van Nistelrooy’s reign off to the perfect start with a second minute opener – the SIXTH time he has got a new Foxes boss off the mark.

Vardy also christened Claudio Ranieri, Craig Shakespeare, Claude Puel, Brendan Rodgers, Steve Cooper’s Leicester careers with their opening goals.

Van Nistelrooy will thank his luck that he has Vardy and Julen Lopetegui will curse his that he doesn’t have a Hammers equivalent.

His side bossed much of this game yet couldn’t put away a string of chances and long before full-time disgusted Hammers fans were singing: “You’re getting sacked in the morning,” at their Spanish boss.

Van Nistelrooy was able to celebrate a second half clincher from Bilal El Khannouss and it could have been even worse had sub Bobby De Codova-Reid’sphantom ‘third goal’ not been disallowed by a narrow VAR offside call.

Van Nistelrooy received a warm rather than rapturous reception from his new support.

It was as if Leicester fans were cautiously weighing him up before deciding whether they were having him or not.

Van Nistelrooy looked a little lost as the applause and cheers soon faded – so he ended up reaching out and shaking the paw of club mascot Filbert Fox!

Yet incredibly, less than two minutes later the Dutchman was punching the air in delight as his players gave him the perfect welcome with a speedy goal.

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Leicester worked the ball neatly down the left then played it inside to Bilal El Khannouss who looked up and spotted Jamie Vardy haring off.

He slid the ball through for the veteran to chase and the 37-year-old sprinted clear of West Ham’s high defence to race through on goal.

As Lukasz Fabianski advanced Vardy kept his cool to clip a right footer around the Polish goalie to find the far corner of the net.

The celebrations were initially cut short by a flag raised by far-side assistant ref Marc Perry, who reckoned Vardy was offside.

However the official made the same mistake as the Hammers ridiculously high back-line – they simply didn’t give enough respect to Vardy’s pace.

After a lengthy VAR check it became clear that Konstantinos Mavrapanos’s trailing leg had played Vardy onside and the goal was given to a huge roar from home fans as Van Nistelrooy applauded.

Whatever Leicester boss is in charge it doesn’t take them long to appreciate Vardy’s worth.

Incredibly the 37-year-old has now scored the first goal for SIX different Leicester managers among his 195 club goals.

The old Fox almost added a second six minutes later when he raced onto a Victor Kristiansen pass but this time Fabianski managed to stay big and deflect his shot into the side netting.

Things looked bleak for under pressure Hammers boss Lopetegui but in fairness his players rallied for him.

They absolutely dominated the rest of the half as they peppered Mads Hermansen’s goals with 20 shots to Leicester’s three by half-time.

But the thin blue line held firm.

Jarrod Bowen curled a shot around Kristiansen but Hermansen reacted brilliantly to beat it away.

Then Danny Ings header deflected off James Justin but bounced off the post before Vestergaard hurled himself in front of Kilman to block his rebound.

West Ham fans then celebrated an equaliser – only to be mocked by Leicester fans who could see Soucek’s header had rippled the side net.

Bowen’s centre then found no takers before the England winger brought out more heroics from Hermansen who thwarted him again.

Somehow Leicester made it to the break with their lead intact.

They continued to ride their luck after the restart as Hermansen produced more heroics to claw a deflected Kudus shot over.

West Ham thought they had levelled after 58 minutes when sub Crysencio Summerville’s skied effort was missed by Hermansen and dropped behind him into the Leicester net.

But referee Josh Smith reckoned Tomas Soucek had impeded the goalie and VAR agreed – although it was hard not to sympathise with Hammers fans who reckoned they had been robbed.

Their miserable night was completed when the Foxes wrapped up the points with a sucker punch break.

Kasey McAteer picked out El Khannouss in the box and the Moroccan international steered a right footer beyond Fabianski.

Lopetegui’s night was summed up when Summerville touched a Bowen cutback beyond Harmansen, only to be denied by Conor Coady who toes the ball off the line.

As West Ham crumbled Patson Daka sprinted clear of the Hammers’ snail-paced defence to lash home a third.

It sealed a perfect start for Van Nistelrooy but could well mark the end for Lopetegui.

Not even a stoppage time header from Niclas Fullkrug is likely to save the Spaniard now.