Leicester City fell to yet another defeat as a lifeless performance at West Ham sapped the little remaining optimism from their Premier League survival bid.
A first-half display lacking in fight saw City concede to Tomas Soucek and Jarrod Bowen, and they did not improve enough after the break to threaten a comeback.
It means they have now lost 11 of their last 12 league matches under Ruud van Nistelrooy, failing to score in nine of those, leaving them five points off Wolves in 17th.
Having failed to find the net in their last three Premier League games, City needed changes at the top of the pitch and van Nistelrooy responded by handing Facundo Buonanotte his first start in seven games, the Argentinian replacing Jordan Ayew.
In two further changes, fit-again James Justin came back in for Woyo Coulibaly, while Caleb Okoli’s run in the team lasted three matches, Jannik Vestergaard returning at centre-back.
With Wolves’ defeat on Tuesday handing City the chance to cut the gap to 17th to two points, a fired-up display would have been expected.
But City played well for just two minutes of the first before serving up an insipid performance that offered supporters no hope that their team can achieve survival.
Those first 120 seconds saw Wilfred Ndidi get a tame shot away, but from there it was all West Ham. So much so that even given those opening minutes, City had had just 13 per cent of the ball at the 10-minute mark.
They at least defended deep enough and compactly enough to cut down the West Ham chances, but once the first one came, it ended up in the back of the net.
Buonanotte only hacked a clearance to Aaron Cresswell 20 yards out and he fired back in. His shot zipped past a static Jannik Vestergaard and found an alert Mohammed Kudus running in, but while Mads Hermansen saved with his face, Soucek was there to tap in the rebound.
The second came just before the break. A West Ham corner deflected kindly for Bowen at the front post, but then City stood and watched as the Hammers skipper hit a cross-shot from a tight angle that deflected off Vestergaard and past Hermansen.
The second half was better, but it took the introductions of Stephy Mavididi and Harry Winks on the hour for City to at least look like they might be capable of mustering a comeback.
There were shots but not chances for City, Bilal El Khannouss and Ndidi volleying, one blocked, one wide, and Vestergaard had a header from a corner saved. In the end, City had more shots than the home side.
But, truth told, those improvements after the interval were not nearly big enough to overturn the insipid first half. It’s another game without points. Here’s how we scored the players.
Mads Hermansen: He just can’t seem to keep the ball out of the net at the moment. Even when he heroically saved with his face to deny Kudus, his defence didn’t help him out, allowing Soucek to tap in. Then he was fooled by a deflection for the second. His short passing was good, his long balls less so. 5
James Justin: He provided a forward outlet on the right, but he didn’t do anything of note when he received the ball in West Ham’s half. Defensively, he was fine, but West Ham didn’t really attempt to attack down his side. 4
Wout Faes: There were no defensive mistakes, and he did position himself well enough to clear his lines a few times, but there weren’t many moments to rave about either. 5
Jannik Vestergaard: He was totally static for the opener, allowing Kudus to run off his shoulder, while he didn’t shut down Bowen effectively for the second either. He was a little slow to move the ball too, but did produce an excellent block late on. 4
Victor Kristiansen: The effort and the endeavour was there, even in the first half when nobody else offered any, and that’s credit to him. But the quality is seriously lacking at times, especially with his aimless punts up the pitch. 5
Wilfred Ndidi: He could not get a foothold in the game for an hour until Winks came on and helped him out. From there, he was able to boss the centre of the park, but not enough to turn the game around. 4
Boubakary Soumare: His levels have really dropped off over the past couple of games, and when he has a bad game, he tends to look really poor. He was just nowhere near sharp enough here, and it came across as a lack of effort. 3
Facundo Buonanotte: It was a woeful clearance to help set up West Ham’s first, and he didn’t really offer enough going forward to make up for it. He dribbled forward plenty of times, but mostly went alone, and so was crowded out. 3
Bilal El Khannouss: It’s clearly a bad performance when even El Khannouss plays poorly. All night, the Moroccan made bad decisions, or played an inaccurate final pass. He was at least keen to get on the ball. 4
Bobby De Cordova-Reid: Wan-Bissaka was his man and not only did he not get any joy out of the West Ham right-back, he could not shut him down going the other way. He’s struggled to pose a threat since those two assists at Spurs, despite plenty of minutes. 3
Jamie Vardy: He was biting at Kilman’s ankles throughout, but that was about as dangerous as he looked. It’s not always his fault when he’s this anonymous, but he doesn’t look like he’s even going to get a shot away, never mind score, right now. 3
Harry Winks: His quicker, first-time passes did not find feet, but he did get on the ball plenty and, when he took his time, he spread play well, offering City greater control. 5
Stephy Mavididi: City’s best player. He looked like he had a point to prove, pressing with aggression, and trying to deliver from the wing. His crosses weren’t too dangerous, but at least he was getting in a position to regularly deliver them. 6
Luke Thomas: Put in one teasing cross, but only had a few minutes on the pitch. N/A
Patson Daka: He can’t really be expected to make a difference when he plays so little. N/A
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