Leicester City, Premier League winners in 2015-16, relegated despite win vs West Ham
The Foxes beat the Irons 2-1 at the King Power Stadium on Sunday but lose their top-flight status as Everton defeat Bournemouth
Leicester City have been relegated to the Championship despite beating West Ham 2-1 at the King Power Stadium on Sunday.
The Foxes needed to beat the Hammers and for Everton not to win against Bournemouth at Goodison Park, but Sean Dyche's side secured a nervy 1-0 victory over the Cherries to condemn the 2015-16 Premier League winners to the drop.
Harvey Barnes gave Leicester the lead against West Ham, already safe and looking ahead to their Europa Conference League final a week on Wednesday, after 34 minutes and that took the Foxes provisionally out of the drop zone with Everton and Bournemouth still goalless.
But Abdoulaye Doucoure's strike after 57 minutes at Goodison Park sent Leicester back into the bottom three and the news quickly filtered through to the players at the King Power Stadium.
Wout Faes then made it 2-0 to Leicester just after the hour mark, before West Ham pulled a goal back through Pablo Fornals with 11 minutes left on the clock.
And although Leicester held on for the win, it was insufficient in the end as Everton also secured a narrow victory over Bournemouth.
Only three clubs – Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea – have won the Premier League since Leicester's title triumph in 2015-16 and the Foxes also lifted the FA Cup in 2020-21.
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Leicester parted company with manager Brendan Rodgers in early April, but caretaker boss Dean Smith has been unable to produce an upturn in results since then.
The Foxes finish 18th with 34 points, three fewer than 17th-placed Everton.
Ben Hayward is a European football writer and Tottenham Hotspur fan with over 15 years’ experience, he has covered games all over the world - including three World Cups, several Champions League finals, Euros, Copa America - and has spent much of that time in Spain. Ben speaks English and Spanish, currently dividing his time between Barcelona and London, covering all the big talking points of the weekend on FFT: he’s also written several list features and interviewed Guglielmo Vicario for the magazine.