Second-half substitute Andy King grabbed an 87th-minute winner as Leicester City beat West Ham United 2-1 to breathe new life into their push for survival.

Esteban Cambiasso volleyed the hosts into a 1-0 lead at the King Power, before David Nugent missed a penalty moments later to establish a two-goal cushion.

It proved a costly miss, as Cheikhou Kouyate equalised to earn parity at the break, but King climbed off the bench to snatch all three points for the Foxes.

Below, Sports Mole sorts the heroes from the villains in a thrilling clash.

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Goal

Kasper Schmeichel: Blameless for the goal and made a host of impressive first-half saves to stifle the Hammers. Good performance overall. (6/10)

Defence

Wes Morgan: The Leicester skipper shrugged off an early injury to produce a competent, assured performance beside Huth. (6/10)

Jeff Schlupp: Perhaps culpable for West Ham's equaliser after misjudging the flight of Song's delivery, before Kouyate capitalised on it. Not his finest hour, but it was in an unfamiliar position it must be said. (4/10)

Robert Huth: Expertly handled the dangerous Sakho, limiting the Senegalese hitman to not a single chance in the 90 minutes. (6/10)

Ritchie De Laet: Got forward really well in the first half but these forays became less and less often as the game progressed. (5/10)

Midfield

Matty James: Very little impact throughout and struggled in midfield against the likes of Noble and Nolan. (5/10)

Riyad Mahrez: Showed glimpses of his quality in the first half, but not enough as he was hauled off at the break and replaced with Albrighton. (5/10)

Esteban Cambiasso: Expertly dictated play and opened the scoring with a fine volley. Could have a big say in Leicester's survival push. (7/10)

Attack

Jamie Vardy: Struggled to get the better of Jenkinson regularly, and when he did should have made the most of it with a couple of really good chances. (5/10)

David Nugent: He will be thankful that his missed penalty did not come back to haunt Leicester - though it may just haunt him this evening. (5/10)

Leonardo Ulloa: Gave his support cast oh so little to work with by virtue of his static movement. Was never going to influence this one in a positive way unfortunately. (4/10)

Substitutes

Marc Albrighton: Did some good things down Leicester's right-hand side but did not look much more involved than Mahrez. (5/10)

Andy King: Quiet cameo overall, but he scored the goal that may just end up saving Leicester this season. (7/10)

Goal

Adrian: Saved Nugent's penalty and produced plenty more heroics in a second half that saw him pelted with shots. Unfortunate to be on the losing side. (6/10)

Defence

Carl Jenkinson: Conceded the first-half penalty that Nugent missed, but recovered really well and managed to silence the often-tricky Vardy. (6/10)

Winston Reid: Looked slightly rusty in what was his first start for a month due to injury but, like West Ham, gradually developed a foothold after a trying start. (6/10)

James Collins: The no-nonsense centre-half proved a reliable figure for the Hammers this afternoon and, like Adrian, might also count himself unlucky to be on the losing side. (7/10)

Aaron Cresswell: His final ball let him down regularly, but did produce a goal-line clearance to keep out Kramaric's shot. (6/10)

Midfield

Cheikh Kouyate: Netted a fine equaliser and would have scored again if not for the post. Really good performance overall from the big midfielder. (7/10)

Alex Song: Comfortably the stand-out candidate for man of the match, Song was excellent at both ends of the field and showed why speculation linking him to Chelsea isn't that farfetched. (8/10)

Kevin Nolan: Energetic performance from the veteran but should have left the field on 65 minutes with a goal under his belt, having missed a good chance in the first half. (6/10)

Mark Noble: Steady if not spectacular from the midfielder, who did not venture forward as often as he might have expected. (5/10)

Stewart Downing: Fizzed in a host of exceptional deliveries but his teammates, and Nolan in particular, could not make the most of the crosses. Would've had two or three assists on another afternoon. (6/10)

Attack

Diafra Sakho: The 12-goal Senegalese striker never got into the game at all by virtue of Huth's defending. Very quiet afternoon. (4/10)

Substitutes

Morgan Amalfitano: Came on for the tiring Nolan but, despite having half-an-hour to impress, barely had an impact at all. (5/10)

Carlton Cole: Had 10 minutes in which to impress but barely got a touch of the ball let alone a sight at goal. (4/10)

Written by
Shane Callaghan