Leicester City 4 (1) v Watford 1 (0)
The sun shines, more than 100 minutes of football, five goals, eleven bookings, two minor on-pitch melees and a dodgy penalty in injury time; all in all a bumper return for the 21,000 who used their Bank Holiday Saturday to watch Leicester beat Watford 4-1.
The second home game of the season saw a few more home debuts: Furlop in goal and Clarke at left back started, Kaebi came on as a sub in the second half. The player-huddle with which City preceded the kick-off to the Blackpool game was not repeated, and Watford – playing in all red – kicked off, with City old-boy Jordan Stewart on their left.
City began with a kind of 4 – 3 – 1 – 2 formation. The backs: N’Gotty on the right, Clarke on the left, McAuley and Kisnorbo in the centre. The midfield: Hume on the right but tucked behind the forwards, Wesolowski and Clemence in the centre and Sheehan on the left. Campbell and De Vries were up front.
Furlop’s first action was uninspiring – flapping at a cross from the right wing after 30 seconds. Indeed the first 14 minutes featured Watford getting far more crosses in from the right than was comfortable for City fans, with Clarke and Sheehan not forming a working partnership very quickly. Shittu headed wide from close, and Watford looked more comfortable than City, but without creating clear chances.
Then, after 14 minutes, the ball fell to Hume, 23 yards out in the “inside right” position, he hit a rising right-foot shot which gave Poom no chance at the far post. 1-0 to City, and one of the cleanest strikes we’ll see this season. The goal was greeted by a new “goal tune” on the tannoys: the sing-along bit from “Chelsea Dagger” by the Fratellis – a good, upbeat choice….
Hume seemed to relish his new role: getting a lot of possession, and even having to cover for a few minutes at right back when Kisnorbo was off the pitch for a blood injury. Hume’s long throw-in down the line (complete with basketball-style bounce of the ball during his run-up) was a novelty we probably won’t see too often.
In the 25th minute, Sheehan lifted a 25 yard free-kick over the Watford wall, requiring a good diving parry from Poom. The game was now more even, but there was little flow from either side. City persisted with long balls up the middle to De Vries, without any penetration; Watford occasionally worked angles on the flanks, but got no real chances.
It was, frankly, rather dull – not helped by the over-zealous referee, Anthony Taylor, giving numerous free-kicks for petty challenges. Taylor found cause for four minutes of stoppage time, before the half ended in a more encouraging way than it started, with Furlop catching a high ball confidently just before the half-time whistle blew.
The second half was far, far livelier than the first. City started on fire: after 47 minutes, Clemence hit a pile-driver from 25 yards which Poom could get nowhere near, but which crashed off the cross-bar. Campbell chased his own through-ball 30 seconds later, and his eventual shot deflected off a defender onto the post. Home fans thought back to the Blackpool game, when City hit the woodwork three times and lost. And yet this match felt different – City looked confident – and different it was: after 50 minutes, Campbell’s persistence scrambled in a goal from short range following a Hume free-kick which Watford did not clear: 2-0 to City, cue the Fratellis again!
After 53 minutes, a free kick was tapped sideways to Sheehan, whose firm drive from 24 yards took a deflection before finding its way into Poom’s net: 3-0 to City!
City now played some tidy passing football – with far fewer long balls than in the first half; Watford looked less good and left more gaps as they opened up, trying to find a way back into the game, coming close with a header past the left-hand post on 59 minutes.
Campbell was replaced by James Chambers on 62 minutes and City adopted a more conventional 4-2-4 line-up, with Hume moving forward and Chambers taking the right midfield slot.
Sheehan continued to show his ability to shoot from range, with a 30 yard drive parried away by Poom after 63 minutes. De Vries improved as the game went on, showing great skills and feints to round his defender on the by-line, but his shot from an acute angle went across the face of the goal. Sheehan then tried again: a volley from 30 yards which looked to be accurate before being charged down.
Watford made a tactical substitution: Kabba off, Priskin on, but City continued to look the tidier side. Hume’s acrobatic overhead kick from the edge of the box drifted just over on 70 minutes, and Watford had a couple of near misses as well as a scrambled goal disallowed for offside.
On 78 minutes, Hume was substituted – with the home fans applauding another high-energy performance and a stunning goal. On came another new face: Kaebi, his international paperwork completed during the previous week. Shortly afterwards, Sheehan was replaced by Kishishev. Sheehan, too, received good applause – his excellent work on set pieces and long shots making up for a slightly hesitant first half performance.
Martin Allen again demonstrated his comfort with changing City’s formation, with Kaebi taking up a very wide forward position, De Vries in the middle, Chambers swapping to left midfield, Wesolowski to right, and Kishishev joining Clemence in the centre.
Watford, too, made a substitution, with McAluff being replaced by Mariappa. City now played largely for time and possession, but on 84 minutes, De Vries showed outstanding skills 10 yards out when he received a right-wing throw-in, turning past two Watford defenders and burying his shot past Poom: 4-0 to City!
The referee somehow found reason for six minutes of stoppage time. After three of these, he awarded a penalty to Watford when a shot from 10 yards was half-blocked then saved by Furlop. I admit that “live” I had no idea what the penalty was given for, but apparently McAuley handled the ball. Furlop was booked for not taking his position quickly enough before the kick was taken, and King rolled the ball in as Furlop went the wrong way: 4-1 to City!
The remaining four minutes (yes, seven extra minutes were played in total) included two more bookings in what was, at worst, a game of slightly petty fouls.
The final whistle was treated with jubilation by the home fans, who had seen that rarity at the Walkers Stadium: a game which City both deserved to win and in which they had taken a good proportion of the chances they created.
Some final observations: once the goals started going in, City looked a competent, passing side; they looked nervy before then. Furlop is a huge ‘keeper. He was not tested much in the game, he seems able to kick, but does not yet look consistent on crosses. Clarke worked hard but without leaving a strong overall impression – positive or negative.
Kaebi is a small, skinny chap, but looked quick, lively and up for a tackle. The ploy of playing Hume in front of the midfield line in the first half gave him a fair bit of possession (and a goal), but City lacked width, with Sheehan hesitant and N’Gotty not overlapping. Kisnorbo and (particularly) McAuley looked very sound in Watford’s few moments of pressure. Clemence looks classy.
It was not clear how Watford had won their first two games of the season. They looked big, physical and (sorry any Watford fans who may be reading) largely unremarkable.
So, City win 4-1, and both Forest and Derby lose – a perfect day (well, we can excuse Coventry going top of the table with a win, I think).
City: Furlop, N’Gotty, Kisnorbo, McAuley, Clarke, Hume (Kaebi, 78), Clemence (c), Wesolowski, Sheehan (Kishishev, 84), Campbell (J Chambers, 60), De Vries. Subs not used: Henderson, Porter.
Watford: Poom, Doyley, DeMerit (Hoskins 82), Shittu, Stewart, McAnuff (Mariappa 84), Mahon (c), Williamson, Smith, King, Kabba (Priskin 67). Subs not used: Lee, Bangura.
Post Script: Leicester, please revert to the player’s names being displayed on the scoreboard ticker-tape style before the kick-off, not using today’s new “two names up at a time” style. The names are displayed for too short a time to write them down; I know, I tried.
The views expressed in this report are the opinions of the Trust member nominated to file the report only and do not represent the views of the Foxes Trust organisation