Championship: Leicester 1 West Ham 2

23 April 2012 23:23

West Ham came from behind to beat Leicester 2-1 and keep their battle for automatic promotion from the Championship alive.

Leicester took the lead on 34 minutes at the King Power Stadium when Jermaine Beckford headed home, but it took the visitors just five minutes to come up with an equaliser through Winston Reid.

Jack Collison then ensured West Ham would still be within striking distance of second-placed Southampton come the final day of the season when he powered home a winner from 20 yards just before the hour mark.

West Ham are two points behind Southampton with one game remaining, and must beat Hull City on the final day and hope the Saints lose to relegated Coventry.

If Southampton draw, West Ham would need to win by three or four goals, depending how many the Saints score, to seal an automatic return to the Premier League.

Despite having nothing to play for, Leicester took the lead in front of their home fans when Beckford headed home after being picked out by a Ben Marshall cross.

Knowing they needed to win to keep their automatic promotion hopes alive, West Ham responded within five minutes, Reid poking the ball home after Matthew Taylor had whipped in a low cross from the left.

West Ham pushed forward in search of a winner after the break, and they got it just before the hour mark when Collison smashed the ball home from just outside the area after the Leicester defence had cleared an earlier effort from Gary O'Neil.

Collison, Ricardo Vaz Te and Kevin Nolan all had chances to add a third for West Ham in the closing stages, but Sam Allardyce's men were happy to settle for a 2-1 win.