Southampton 2 City 0
Report by Kate Thompson
After long trips to Newcastle and Swansea, I headed for the south coast with more optimism than recent results warranted. The contest looked so one-sided – Southampton had only had one goal scored against them all season – that the ‘glass half-full’ among us thought that perhaps City could sneak an unexpected and very welcome win. With the threatened downpour starting just before the match kicked off, those of us in the front few rows were glad of the black bin liners being handed out by the stewards!
For 75 minutes, Leicester defended resolutely, but without threatening the Southampton goal, but substitute Shane Long – once a target for City – scored two late goals to keep us pinned in the relegation places.
The team showed two changes from the game against West Brom, with Schlupp replacing Konchesky and Ulloa pushing Nugent to the bench. Most of the talk before the game was about Knockaert not even being named among the substitutes. It must have been awful playing in the conditions, but unlike matches when I was young, the pitch held up remarkably well.
City struggled to get over the halfway line for much of the first half and a lot of the play took place on the flanks, where we had no real presence. What was really worrying is that we didn’t have a single shot on target and only 36% of possession, for the entire game. King had a tame shot and Wood fluffed an apparently simple chance right at the death when the game was already lost.
By contrast, Southampton were always direct and threatening, although it took until the 75th minute for their efforts to bear fruit. A quick passing move led to a clever knock-down from Pelle (another Leicester target) and Shane Long blasted an unstoppable shot past four defenders and Schmeichel.
I would fault Schmeichel for the second goal soon afterwards, also from Long; I never understand why he punts the ball upfield rather than passing out to a team-mate, as more times than not it falls to an opposition player. Wanyama played a clever pass over the entire City defence and Long, who was onside, had a relatively easy job to score. He nearly got his hat-trick soon afterwards, but shot just wide.
Schlupp was given man of the match by Radio Leicester and he was certainly a lot more effective than he was in the Newcastle game. Moore (who came on for De Laet, who had apparently hurt his back) and Wasilewski picked up yellow cards. So did two Southampton players and a foul by Alderweireld led to a free kick just outside the penalty box, which Cambiasso took; unfortunately it hit the wall and went harmlessly out of play.
Like most fans, I am baffled that a team which destroyed Manchester United have failed even to score a goal for four games. At least they played at a higher tempo against Southampton – which to me is the answer. I really hope Pearson knows how to put things right, as I would be very sorry if he was forced out, but the calls for him to be sacked are growing louder. What also puzzles me is how fragile football players’ confidence is, but of course the pressure in the game these days is immense.
To sum up, nobody had a really bad game, although there were some indifferent performances. And someone behind me summed up one of the problems – naivety. Southampton have been in the Premiership for a while now and yesterday it showed.
Leicester: Schmeichel, De Laet (Moore 54), Wasilewski, Morgan, Schlupp, Cambiasso, James, Drinkwater, King (Powell 76), Vardy, Ulloa (Wood 71). Subs not used: Konchesky, Mahrez, Smith, Nugent
Southampton: Forster, Clyne, Fonte, Alderweireld, Bertrand, Davis (Cork 40), Wanyama, Schneiderlin (Reed 90 +1:59), Tadic, Pelle, Mane (Long 68). Subs not used: Davis, Yoshida, Gardos, Mayuka
Attendance: 31,297 Referee: Michael Oliver
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