LONDON: Kurt Zouma avoided more controversy in West Ham’s 2-2 draw at Leicester.

The West Ham defender had suffered widespread public condemnation after a video showed him kicking his pet cat. Hammers’ manager David Moyes was then criticised for playing him in midweek against Watford.

At Leicester Zouma was named in West Ham’s line-up, was booed during the warm-up and was then replaced by Issa Diop before kickoff.

West Ham said that he had been “feeling unwell.”

Wolves overtook Tottenham to go into seventh place with a 2-0 win in north London. This was the first time Spurs’ boss Antonio Conte had lost three league games in succession since 2009.

Tottenham were booed off by their fans at the end. Scapegoat was captain Hugo Loris. His poor handling was to blame for the opening goal by Raul Jimenez and then a bad pass out led to the Wolves’ second by Leander Dendoncker.

A free kick from new captain Kieran Tripper provided Newcastle with a 1-0 win over Aston Villa.

Referee Craig Pawson had awarded the free kick after scrapping a penalty award on VAR advice. This was a second goal in successive games for England defender Trippier who cost Newcastle £12m last month from Atletico Madrid. Newcastle last won three league matches in a row in November 2018.

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