Ruud van Nistelrooy's Leicester debut ends in victory as they beat West Ham 3-1 at the King Power

Ruud van Nistelrooy kicked off his managerial career at Leicester City with a fantastic 3-1 victory over West Ham United at the King Power Stadium.

The Foxes extended the gap on the bottom three to four points thanks to the victory and snapped their run of six games without a win.

But the defeat heaps further pressure on beleaguered West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui, who was serenaded with chants of 'you're getting sacked in the morning!' by his own club's fans during the defeat.

"I think this is the beginning of the end for Lopetegui," concluded Tim Sherwood on ' Soccer Special. "You cannot capitulate like this."

Jamie Vardy got the new Van Nistelrooy regime off to a flyer with the opener in just the second minute. The veteran striker's goal was initially ruled out for offside but was allowed to stand following a lengthy four-minute VAR review.

West Ham responded well to going behind and went close through Danny Ings, who was one of five changes on the evening from Lopetegui, as his header struck the woodwork following a deflection.

Pressure continued to mount on the hosts but Mads Hermansen's five first-half saves ensured the Foxes' lead remained intact heading into the break.

Despite the dominance from the visitors, Leicester doubled their lead through Bilal El Khannouss just moments after West Ham saw an 'equaliser' disallowed for a foul off the ball.

Tomas Soucek was the culprit after the midfielder was adjudged to have impeded Hermansen in the area prior to the ball bouncing past the Foxes 'keeper.

Bobby De Cordova-Reid saw his effort disallowed but the Foxes would find their third through Patson Daka in stoppage time to round off an impressive first outing for the new boss.

Meanwhile, Lopetegui's side have now suffered eight defeats this season but the Spaniard will be hoping Niclas Fullkrug climbing off the bench to score his first goal for the club in the 93rd minute can act as a confidence boost heading into their next fixture against his former side Wolves, live on , next Monday.

Sherwood: Start of the end for Lopetegui

' Tim Sherwood speaking on Soccer Special:

"West Ham had better players on the bench than they did on the pitch. And l cannot believe how they set up defensively on the halfway line. It just made no sense.

"It was poor from West Ham but give Leicester credit. Personally, I think this is the beginning of the end for Lopetegui. You cannot capitulate like this.

"They are playing as if they have just been thrown on the pitch and wherever they land is where they play.

"There is absolutely no structure to their play. The manager has got it all wrong. There are more questions than answers for Lopetegui. He has had a bad night."

Van Nistelrooy: We can look further

Leicester boss Ruud van Nistelrooy speaking to Amazon Prime:

"I think first and foremost we need to get some performance with energy, togetherness and spirit to get a connection with the crowd and I think they did that.

"The foundation for us going forward is everybody working their socks off, fighting for every inch, everybody tackling and fighting for each other from there on we can look further. They did that in an unbelievable way."

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