Lingard on target as West Ham beat Leeds to go fifth

Goals for West Ham from Lingard and Dawson see team push forward for top-four finish

WEST HAM PLAYER RATINGS: Lukas Fabianski - 9 – He performed well on his return to the starting line-up, commanding his area and collecting virtually every ball crossed into his box. In the second half, he made two crucial saves against two very powerful Raphinha shots. EPA

Vladimír Coufal - 5 - The right-back struggled early on when trying to contain Raphina. He was also clumsy at times, leaving a foot out to give away fouls, and his passing along the touchline wasn’t the most accurate. However, he provided some good forward runs for the home side. EPA

Craig Dawson - 9 - A superb performance from the centre-back who scored a thundering header to put West Ham two up after getting on the end of a corner from Cresswell. He nearly got a second but hit the post, again from a corner. He was a saviour at the back as well for West Ham as he cleared the ball off the line after Rodrigo tried a tap in. A man-of-the-match display. EPA

Issa Diop - 7 - He gave away the ball a few times with his poor passing and lost his man in the box on occasion. However, he turned his game around in the second half, making several key blocks and clearances. EPA

Aaron Cresswell - 7 - The left-back played well driving forward and supplying some great crosses. He had a free-kick deflected, but his standout moment was his assist to Dawson’s header from the corner. EPA

Tomáš Soucek - 6 - The Czech midfielder played well, putting himself in multiple positions to score one of his trademark headers, though he didn’t find the net this time. He made some good interceptions, too. Reuters

Declan Rice - 7 - A good performance from the skipper, who made a number of strong interceptions and produced a great run forward just 13 minutes in. He protected his defence well and was solid overall. EPA

Pablo Fornals - 6 - After a slow start to the game, the Spaniard joined his fellow attackers to create several good pieces of play. He nearly scored a screamer in the second half, but his shot ricocheted off the crossbar. EPA

Jesse Lingard - 8 - West Ham’s star man at the moment continued to shine and he was rewarded for his skilful dribbling by winning a penalty after being brought down by Ayling. After having the penalty saved, he tapped in on the follow-up and put his side ahead. Reuters

Said Benrahma - 6 - Like Fornals, he started slowly but produced a number of through balls and neat quick one-twos with Lingard. He nearly scored from about 25 yards out in the first half but was denied by Meslier. EPA

Michail Antonio - 7 - One of West Ham’s best players this season, he really put his pace and strength to good use, whether it is was by holding up the ball or positioning himself on the Leeds goalkeeper at corners. He was a key part of the home side’s performance. Reuters

SUB: Jarrod Bowen N/A - The winger came on and didn’t add a lot to the game as his side sat back. He did, however, show battling qualities and some quick play on the counter. EPA

SUB: Ben Johnson - N/A - The youngster was subbed on very late so didn’t get a chance to put his mark on the game, though his main goal was to help Cresswell smother Raphinha’s attacking talent on the left-hand side. EPA

LEEDS UNITED RATINGS: Illan Meslier - 6 - The Leeds goalkeeper had a steady start to the game and looked comfortable on the ball, but he was let down by his defence at times. He did well to save Lingard’s penalty, but he didn’t clear it far enough to prevent the tap in. EPA

Luke Ayling - 5- Leeds’ right-back was guilty of a sloppy performance, giving the penalty away by clumsily sticking his leg out to bring down Lingard. He did block a Cresswell free-kick, but later gave away another free-kick in a similar position. Reuters

Diego Llorente - 5 - The Spaniard started the game strongly, making some good switches across the field. However, as the game went on, his commanding presence disintegrated and West Ham attacked freely. Reuters

Liam Cooper - 5 - The Leeds skipper constantly gave away fouls in dangerous positions for his side, and he couldn’t stop his team from conceding twice. Reuters

Stuart Dallas – 4 – The Northern Irish midfielder seemed to go missing for large patches of play, though he did have a chance late on for a shot, but it was easily blocked by Diop. Reuters

Kalvin Phillips - 6 - Phillips tried his best to protect the back line, making many important interceptions, but overall it wasn’t enough for Leeds. He also made some good forward passes but he lacked a spark of proper quality. Reuters

Raphinha - 7 - Easily Leeds’ best player after contributing some very skilful attacks with neat footwork, but his crosses were either off target or there was no-one to finish them off. EPA

Mateusz Klich – 4 - Like Dallas, Klich seemed to disappear in the middle of the park for the whole time he was on the pitch and that was probably why he was brought off at half-time. A very lacklustre performance. EPA

Tyler Roberts - 6- At the start of the game he played well, finding space and displaying some good footwork, but he was unlucky to have an early goal ruled out for offside. After that, he lost his spark as his side were dominated by West Ham. Reuters

Hélder Costa - 7 - He made some good runs and nearly scored just five minutes in, but his effort went narrowly over the bar. Reuters

Patrick Bamford - 5 - It was a night to forget for Bamford who missed multiple chances. He had a goal ruled out early on and in the second half he should have done better when he fired just wide. There was some good holdup play, but it was overshadowed by his profligacy in front of goal. EPA

SUB: Ezgjan Alioski 6- After coming on at half-time he was solid at left-back, making some good runs, but he couldn’t kickstart a comeback. He didn’t have much defensive work to do as West Ham mostly sat back having got their lead. AFP

SUB: Rodrigo 5 - He had very little influence on the game apart from nearly scoring a tap in; he should have added more power but it was cleared off the line by Dawson. Reuters

SUB: Jack Harrison 5 - The winger didn’t get the chance to show much of his quality as he didn’t receive the ball an awful lot but when West Ham did attack, he helped provide defensive cover for Alioski. Reuters

West Ham United maintained their push for a top-four finish as goals by Jesse Lingard and Craig Dawson earned them a 2-0 home win over Leeds in the Premier League on Monday.

Lingard converted a rebound from his own saved penalty in the 21st minute for his fourth goal in six appearances since arriving on loan from Manchester United.

Dawson headed in West Ham's second goal seven minutes later to help his side up to fifth spot with 48 points from 27 games.

David Moyes's side are two points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, having played a game less.

Leeds twice had goals ruled out before West Ham scored and squandered good opportunities to get back into the game.

In the end a frustrating night for Marcelo Bielsa's side left them in 11th.

England forward Lingard, 28, arrived at West Ham with something of a point to prove after slipping down the pecking order at Old Trafford, and he has not disappointed.

He has given Moyes a different attacking option alongside the power of Michail Antonio, and is clearly enjoying himself.

His surging run into the penalty area in the 20th minute caught Luke Ayling flat-footed and the Leeds defender stuck out a leg to bring Lingard down for a clear penalty.

Lingard's penalty was poor though and Illan Meslier made a save, only for the ball to squirm from his grasp and back out for a relieved Lingard to convert at the second attempt.

It was against the run of play because Leeds twice had goals ruled out, first when Helder Costa played in Tyler Roberts to score, but Costa was ruled offside with a VAR check going fractionally West Ham's way.

Patrick Bamford then fired in at the near post but the ball had just gone out of play before Raphinha's cut-back.

"Leeds caused us problems. Two disallowed goals. We had to wake up and get into the game," West Ham skipper Declan Rice said.

"We could have been one or two goals down and that would have been hard to come back against a team like Leeds."

West Ham doubled their lead when Dawson escaped his marker from Aaron Cresswell's corner and headed in from close range.

Leeds still looked a threat after the break and West Ham keeper Lukasz Fabianski had to tip over Raphinha's deflected overhead kick while Bamford scooped a great chance over.

Dawson cleared off the line late on from Rodrigo's weak effort, although West Ham could have added to their tally when Pablo Fornals thumped a dipping shot against the crossbar.

Leeds ended up with 17 attempts at goal and Bielsa felt they deserved something from the game.

"We had the first 15 minutes in the first half which was the best for us in the game. In the second half the dominance was continuous," he said.