EPL: An extraordinary match at the London Stadium ends with Leeds taking home three points, thanks to Jack Harrison’s hat-trick
West Ham were looking for their fourth consecutive victory when they hosted Leeds United at the London Stadium.
Leeds, having lost the reverse fixture, went off in a fine start as they capitalized on a defensive blunder by the Hammers. Lukasz Fabianski made a fine save initially, the rebound got teed up to Jack Harrison for the opener.
The Hammers went in search of the equalizer and nearly found a way through the Leeds defense, however Craig Dawson’s header from close range just missed the mark. In-form player Jarrod Bowen latched on to an Aaron Cresswell corner to level the score.
The joy didn’t last long though as Jack Harrison added another three minutes later to restore the lead for Leeds which they took till the halftime break.
The rhythm continued into the second half as West Ham managed to draw level shortly after restart as Pablo Fornals managed to finish off a Michail Antonio through ball.
However, Harrison continued his form on the day as a pass from Raphinha set him up for a Premier League hat-trick. Leeds thought they had a two-goal cushion when Raphinha set up Mateusz Klich, however the goal was deemed to be offside via VAR.
Some minutes later, West Ham thought they had equalized through Andriy Yarmolenko, however the flag was raised for offside as well, with Leeds holding on to their lead. West Ham were presented with a golden opportunity to snatch a point at the death, however Bowen couldn’t manage to make proper contact with the ball at point blank range.
The final whistle ensured that Leeds secured maximum points against the Hammers at the London Stadium, with the game ending 3-2 in their favour.
Despite their defeat to Leeds, West Ham remain 4th ahead of Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United.
Norwich move up to 18th after their win against Everton, still in the relegation zone but just one point behind safety. Leeds United move up to 15th with their impressive win.
Leed United played an impressive game