We're top of the league!

West Ham 4 (four) Leicester City 1

After 18 months we're all back in the London Stadium feeling childishly excited, having arrived an hour before kick-off. Nigel is wearing his vintage Deep Purple t-shirt to add some colour for the blog, Matt and Lisa have left the Best Cafe early to be here and Private Fraser is saying he never doubted Captain Moyes for a moment. 

Meanwhile Scott is behind us with Steve the Cornish Postie, up on a delayed train from Poldark-land that took a mere eight hours, plus Joe, who is carrying a bag containing a book of Basque recipes and a Dictionary, as you do. We're minus foul weather fan Alison and Michael the Whovian is also absent, as he has a play to run, though he will have been gutted to miss Ricardo Vaz Te on the big screen. Matt dispenses copies of When Saturday Comes plus footie and Wainwright paperbacks, while Nigel tempts fate by saying that if we win 4-0 we go top. 

THEY FLY SO HIGH

Bubbles is rousing after all this time as the team come on accompanied by flame throwers (best kept away from Bobby Moore's pubs) and there's a carnival atmosphere among the fans. Benrahma has an early sighter, but the first half an hour is fairly equal. But it's West Ham who take the lead with a marvellously incisive goal. Rice picks up Vardy's loose ball and finds Bowen who feeds Fornals. Pablo lets the ball run across his body in Brooking-esque fashion, plays a one two with Benrahma and strokes home the return with a cleverly weighted shot. The new squared-off ends ensure a much more fervent celebration as the stadium goes effing mental. 

It gets better for WHU as Fornals goes down after a challenge from Perez, VAR gets involved and the Leicester forward is red-carded for a clumsy forward's challenge. Soucek and Ogbonna go close with headers as the Hammers go in at the break winning one-nil. At half-time Nigel is discouraged from eating his lucky banana as we struggle to find something to complain about. 

It's the best atmosphere we've had at the London Stadium and the intensity of the crowd appears to unsettle ten-man Leicester. Soyuncu plays a blind back-pass to Schmeichel that Antonio intercepts and coolly plays in Benrahma for Said to tap home his second of the season.

The Irons look certain to score a third. Fornals whips in a great cross and Antonio has a header well saved by Schmeichel. If he'd headed it downwards he would have scored. Creswell then volleys just over from the edge of the box.

Only suddenly Leicester are back in it. Maddison crosses and Tielemans' shot rebounds off Cresswell and rather luckily falls straight back to him, ready for the Leicester man to poke home. Encouragingly the home crowd respond positively and roar the lads forward. 

TAKING THE MICHAIL

Antonio's long range effort is tipped round the post by Schmeichel and Dawson heads wide. Finally the game is put to bed in the 80th minute. The indefatigable Rice gets down the left, aided by a clever return pass from Cresswell, and crosses in to the box. Antonio has his back to goal but holds off Soyuncu to swivel and shoot home. Having broken Paolo Di Canio's record to become West Ham's top PL scorer, he races to the dug out to re-enact a scene from Dirty Dancing with a giant cut-out of himself. 

Four minutes later he's at it again, taking a great touch from Coufal's cross to bamboozle the Foxes' defence and poke home. What a night. "Antonio!! Antonio!!" echoes around the stadium. They'll be dancing in the streets of Crantock tonight.

Perhaps this is the game where the London Stadium finally started to feel like home.Even better Mystic Morris wasn't quite accurate with his 4-0 prediction — 4-1 is enough to take us top on goals scored. Stop the season now!

We retreat to the Refreshment Rooms for a couple of pints of Meantime as Nigel finally eats his lucky banana before dashing for the last train to Felixstowe. What a start to the season it's been, though Nigel does point out that Carlisle were once top after three games. We still need to sign some players, but we'll take this. All we have to do is keep Antonio fir for 60-odd games. Irons!

PLAYER RATINGS: Fabianski 6; Coufal 7, Dawson 7, Ogbonna 7, Cresswell 7; Rice 8, Soucek 7, Benrahma 8 (Noble n/a), Fornals 8, Bowen 7; Antonio 9 (Yarmolenko n/a).