Wolves 1 City 0
Report by Colin Hall
A 25-yard strike by Wolves' Ivan Cavaleiro, just before the hour mark, proved enough to condemn Leicester City to their second defeat of the 2017-18 pre-season.
The win was no more than the Championship side deserved, Looking sharper and hungrier than their visitors throughout the game, they created enough chances to have won the game by a more convincing margin.
Many of the 1700-strong Leicester contingent were disappointed by both the performance and the result. With a virtually full-strength side on display, the general lethargy and lack of cohesion should worry Craig Shakespeare, with less than a fortnight before the season-opener at Arsenal.
City were greeted on arrival by a familiar adversary. Home boss Nuno Espirito Santo was in charge at Porto during their Champions League clashes with the Foxes last season. Why he chose to forsake the scenic delights of northern Portugal for the rather less obvious attractions of the English Black Country is a question only he (and perhaps his bank manager) can answer.
Yet, despite the expensive, extensive revamping of the Wolves squad during the close season, they were the first to settle here. Home winger Jota, on loan from Atletico Madrid, tested Kasper Schmeichel with a drive from distance which took a heavy deflection.
City were stung into a response – and should have gone ahead after 10 minutes when Danny Drinkwater sent Jamie Vardy clear on goal. However, after rounding home goalkeeper Ruddy, the striker slightly underhit his shot, allowing Coady to recover and clear off the line.
That proved to be the most clear-cut chance that City would create all afternoon. With the home side dominant in midfield, the rest of the half saw a string of shots rain in on Schmeichel, but none were quite able to find their target.
The visitors suffered a blow after 34 minutes when Islam Slimani was forced off with a gashed leg following a heavy challenge. His replacement, Shinji Okazaki, was as industrious as ever but proved unable to make any significant impact on the game.
Wolves, meanwhile, continued to press after the break, with Jota again forcing Schmeichel into action, and Doherty firing wide after the City defence had failed to deal with a cross by Cavaleiro.
The home breakthrough finally arrived after 59 minutes, when a wayward Marc Albrighton cross sparked a swift counter-attack which ended with Jota playing in Cavaleiro for a curling drive leaving Schmeichel helpless.
City continued to look to their wide men to fashion a reply, but neither Albrighton or an out-of-sorts Riyad Mahrez were able to raise themselves to the task. Even a string of home substitutions in the closing minutes failed to provide a lifeline to the visitors.
After Ronan and Zyro had wasted chances to seal the home victory, Drinkwater came close to snatching a leveller at the death, but he saw his 20-yard drive fly over when he really should have forced Ruddy into a save at the least.
In truth, though, a draw would not have been enough to paper over the cracks of a dispiriting, disjointed City performance, Of those who appeared at Molineux, only Schmeichel, skipper Wes Morgan and new signing Harry Maguire can take any comfort from their afternoon's work.
On this evidence, many Foxes will hope that the drawn-out Kelechi Iheanacho transfer saga can be brought to a swift and positive conclusion, and that a way can be found, involving a change of formation if need be, to accommodate Vincente Iborra into the starting line-up.
A drastic improvement is needed in the next two games to build up rhythm and confidence before the serious business begins.
City (4-4-2): Schmeichel: Simpson, Morgan (c), Maguire, Fuchs: Albrighton, Drinkwater, Ndidi, Mahrez: Slimani (Okazaki 34), Vardy.
Attendance: 11953
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