Palace 2 City 2
Post Match Analysis by Colin Hall
Leicester City were forced to wait at least another week for a first victory in the Premier League season, after conceding an equaliser in stoppage time at Crystal Palace.
For many fans, the result was an opportunity spurned to put clear water between the Foxes and the teams currently occupying the bottom three places.
It was particularly frustrating in that it was the THIRD time in successive visits to this venue that a lead has been squandered.
While Selhurst Park is never an easy place to visit – as several City managers have discovered in recent years – the outcome of this clash did not exactly dispel doubts about Steve Cooper’s ability to keep this side in the top flight.
Yet only a hugely contentious VAR call and a rare, panic-stricken error by substitute Conor Coady, allowing home striker Mateta to level the game from the penalty spot, prevented Cooper’s game plan from being executed to perfection.
He had largely retained faith in the side that had succumbed to Aston Villa before the international break, with the only change being the replacement of Abdul Fatawu with Stephy Mavadidi.
Once again, Wilfred Ndidi was deployed in an advanced midfield role in preference to two recent acquisitions. However, the Nigerian did more than enough to justify his manager’s trust, setting up both of his side’s goals.
The first of these, after 21 minutes, provided a welcome reminder of recent glories, as Jamie Vardy outwitted both home keeper Henderson and current England defender Guéhi to convert an Ndidi through ball from a narrow angle.
A similar move nearly extended the visitors’ lead just before the break, but this time Vardy squared the ball to Mavididi, only for him to blaze wide.
Seconds into the second half, though, the winger made amends, firing home a close-range volley after being teed up by Ndidi.
But the exuberance of the travelling hordes was to be short-lived. Within minutes of the restart, Mateta turned home a Mitchell cross as the City defence stood expecting an offside flag. Although it duly came, a lengthy VAR check – which failed to indicate that any error made had been either clear or obvious – nevertheless concluded with the call on the pitch being over-ruled, allowing the goal to stand.
The hosts, invigorated by the goal, forced City back for long spells, but serious threats of an equaliser were few and far between. However, the impact of long intercontinental flights on both Ndidi and Jordan Ayew began to take their toll, while the veteran Vardy also struggled to cope with the intensity of the home fightback.
With limited attacking options on his bench, Cooper made a series of mainly defensive substitutions during the closing stages in an effort to protect the lead. Such action was no different to what any of City’s recent managers would have done in similar circumstances. This time, though, it didn’t quite work.
Coady, making his first league appearance in several months, lost the ball in his own penalty area, and caught Palace sub Sarr in his efforts to retrieve it. It was the most obvious of penalties, which Mateta duly converted to rescue a point for his side.
Once again, the mentality issues which have been so damaging for City in recent seasons resurfaced with a vengeance. It would be extremely harsh to lay the blame for them at the door of a manager who has been in charge for just a handful of games to date. Yet that is precisely what many of Cooper’s vitriolic online critics seek to do.
Although many fans, this writer included, remain sceptical of the current incumbent’s ability to rebuild the side to the levels reached at the start of the decade, there is a venomously hostile element, attached to certain message boards, who take their antipathy towards him much further.
They make little effort to hide their wishes to see him fail, since they view another relegation as a boost to their attempts to force through a change of ownership at the club, whatever the consequences of such an event may be.
It is therefore to be hoped that Cooper and his players can bring about a change of narrative in the weeks ahead. A series of winnable games given them the chance to do this. Can they seize it and rise to the challenge?
Palace (3-4-1-2): Henderson; Clyne (Kamada 64), Lacroix, Guéhi; Muñoz (Sarr 81), Doucouré (Hughes ht), Wharton, Mitchell (Schlupp 89); Eze; Nketiah, Mateta.
Subs not used: Turner, J Ward, Umeh, Richards, Lerma
Goals: Mateta 48, 90 +2 (pen).
Leicester (4-3-3): Hermansen; Justin, Okoli, Faes, Kristiansen; Winks, Skipp, Ndidi (Choudhury 76); Ayew (Coady 83), Vardy, Mavididi (Fatawu 72)
Subs not used: D Ward, Ricardo, Soumaré, Buonanotte, El-Youness, DeCordova-Reid.
Goals: Vardy 21, Mavididi 46.
Booked: Ndidi, Ayew, Coady.
Referee: Tony Harrington. VAR: Andy Madley
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