LEICESTER CITY 0 STOKE CITY 1
Report by Paul Weston
After the recent mini-revival I think most fans went to the match with a touch more optimism. However, this was tempered by news of injuries to Cambiasso, Hammond and James- a major loss in particular, banned for three matches for his red card tackle against Villa.
I was very surprised that Albrighton was left on the bench after his good display and excellent crosses against Villa and also that Ulloa, our top scorer and Kramaric, our new purchase, were on the subs list.
So we started with the Nugent/Vardy partnership that has delivered very few goals this season. Drinkwater and King were in midfield. This looked lightweight from the start and this turned out to be a key difference in the match. Nugent and Vardy also won very little in the air which was where most of our passes went instead of along the ground to suit their abilities better.
There is very little to say about the first half apart from a Nugent shot that curled wide and high. City matched Stoke pretty well without creating much and the defence looked solid. Hamer commanded his goal well and Konchesky worked hard not to make his regular back pass error. Schlupp and Knockaert were tracking back well to deny opportunities for Stoke.
However, right from the start N’Zonzi ran the show in a languid style and Bojan looked tricky when on the ball, although small in stature. Our free kicks and corners were, as usual, lacking in guile and imagination and invariably would lead to a Stoke header out and a breakaway! If the team practices corners during the week then surely a different routine is needed. It is woeful to watch!
However 0-0 was about right at half time and we looked forward to City pushing forward in the second half and options on the subs bench to bring on. Unfortunately it did not work out like that at all- it was a dour affair. Stoke took more of a stranglehold on the game without creating clear cut chances and City started to run out of ideas.
With about 30 minutes to go Nigel was about to bring on Krameric when Stoke scored with the only bit of pure skill in the match. Walters easily brushed aside Konchesky and passed inside to Bojan who turned brilliantly to fire into the corner. It was a classy goal one had to admit.
Ulloa and Krameric and Lawrence were brought on in the last 30 minutes but they saw little of the ball and did not make much of an impact. City just did not seem to know how to pass through the Stoke defence and resorted to long balls which were headed back easily by the Stoke defence.
It did not help that Hamer’s kicking became worse as the match progressed, giving Stoke possession many times. The match just fizzled out and the capacity crowd left in a subdued mood, especially hearing that three points would have taken us off the bottom of the table.
And so the FA Cup match comes next, which surely is a good opportunity to give Schwarzer a match and a full debut to Kramaric, perhaps with Albrighton to get some good crosses in. The next few league games look very daunting. The City fans remain faithful to the team and manager but please please give us something more to cheer next time!
Leicester: Hamer, Simpson, Wasilewski, Morgan, Konchesky, Knockaert, Drinkwater, King, Schlupp (Lawrence 71), Vardy (Kramaric 65), Nugent (Ulloa 71). Subs not used: De Laet, Albrighton, Moore, Schwarzer
Stoke: Begovic, Bardsley, Wollscheid, Muniesa, Wilson, Whelan, Nzonzi, Arnautovic (Crouch 81), Bojan, Moses (Cameron 86), Walters. Subs not used: Huth, Ireland, Adam, Sidwell, Butland
Attendance: 31,772 Referee: Andre Marriner
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