WHZ View: Fouled 8x – Bowen bites back at Leicester City with goal and assist in West Ham win
Jarrod Bowen ruffled the fur of the Foxes on Sunday as he helped West Ham to a 3-2 win over Leicester City at the London Stadium.
It was a crucial clash in the race for the top four and it was the Irons who came out on top to move back up to fourth and within a point of Brendan Rodgers’ side.
Chelsea had moved into the Champions League positions on Saturday night after they thrashed Crystal Palace 4-1 at Selhurst Park but Bowen and Jesse Lingard ensured they were there for less than 24 hours.
The duo were the goalscorers in East London with Lingard helping himself to a double and the Manchester United loanee is rightly lauded by supporters as an integral cog in the Irons machine.
But perhaps the efforts of Bowen go slightly under the radar amid a host of other stars including Michail Antonio, Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek.
Bowen adapted to a newer role in the absence of Antonio on Sunday as he headed the Irons attack, a position he took to with aplomb.
It was his pace that exposed the Leicester backline and allowed him to surge in on goal before putting it on a plate for Lingard to score his second.
The 24-year-old then turned goalscorer when he swept home a pass from Soucek minutes after the second-half restart.
One goal, one assist, but that wasn’t all that Bowen provided on Sunday.
He was also a great source of respite, as according to WhoScored statistics he was fouled a mammoth eight times in his 84 minutes on the pitch.
That’s quadruple the amount of any of his teammates (Vladimir Coufal was fouled twice) while Kelechie Iheanacho was upended the most for the Foxes (three).
His movement caused the away side issues and awarded his side a number of valuable free-kicks.
Bowen also completed two dribbles and supplied one key pass – he was only beaten by one West Ham performer in both categories.
He may not be the substitute striker West Ham fans were all dreaming of but the early signs are that he can do the job and fill the sizeable void left by Antonio.
In other West Ham news, hottest prospects in Irons youth academy discussed in James Wood Fan Q&A.