LEICESTER CITY 0 BLACKBURN ROVERS 2
Post Match Analysis by Paul Weston
The Foxes had been crowned Champions at the resounding defeat of Preston North End on Monday, so all was set up to receive the trophy and have a celebration party at the King Power. The match was vital for Blackburn Rovers who were still in a relegation fight.
Top had laid on drinks and fans gathered in the sun outside the stadium before the match. The Blackburn team formed a guard of honour for the team and Jamie Vardy, captain for the day, walked out to an amazing giant tifo created by Union FS celebrating the achievements in 12 years at the club – what a player.
KDH was injured (in Monday’s celebrations or wrapped in cotton wool for future sale we wondered) so Choudhury was selected. That resulted in Ricardo pushed further up front. This formation did not work however because City did not press well from the front and Choudhury contributed little to attacking moves. As a result, Vardy was left isolated up front with little creativity on either flank at first. City, as usual, made some sloppy passes in defence early on which Blackburn failed to exploit.
The only shots in the first half were a chip from Vardy when put through and from which he normally would have scored, and a trademark left footed shot from Fatawu. It was sterile stuff and City seemed to be playing walking football at times and going through the motions. Perhaps the partying had caught up with them? Blackburn defended with ease and seemed content with their 0-0 draw at half time.
The second half continued in the same vein until Vestergaard dallied on the ball and was robbed of possession and Szmodics went on and colly slotted the ball home in the 68th minute. Vestergaard and others were left trailing in his wake, and this was a worrying reminder of what awaits us in the Premier League.
This seemed to wake City players up from their slumbers and they decided to get out of first gear and make a game of it. Marc Albrighton was brought on to huge acclaim for probably his last match and immediately slung over some trademark crosses which increased the tempo of the match and crowd noise. This was City’s best spell. McAteer was brought on and it felt like an equaliser was on the cards. They went closest when Blackburn’s goalie tipped Winks’ shot onto the bar which looked goal bound.
And then in the fourth minute of injury time with City pressing forward to salvage the match Akgun went down and lost possession close to the penalty area, claiming a foul. The ball was played out and Szmodics beat Hermansen to the ball who was miles out of his goal.
Szmodics, man of the match, ran the ball into the goal with arms aloft to celebrations from the Blackburn fans and coaching staff. As it turned out, with all other relegation threatened teams winning, the 2-0 victory was needed to save Blackburn and it was well deserved.
I am delighted that City are back in the Premier League after sleepwalking into relegation last season. Blackburn needed the points, and it showed in their play whilst City players seemed to be going through the motions at times after perhaps partying too hard. It is churlish to criticise after such a long arduous season and the players, manager, Top, staff and families enjoyed their celebrations after the match in front of the home crowd and which continued on Sunday in the town.
And what next after the celebrations are finshed? There are so many worrying uncertainties ahead. Points deductions, FFP legal challenges, player sales, players out of contract, manager retention, next year’s squad – the list is endless. After a break there is much work to do for the club management so that we are much better prepared for the Premiership League next season than when we were relegated. Let us hope lessons have been learned!
City Ratings: Hermansen (6), Justin (6), Vestergaard (6), Faes (7), Winks (7), Ricardo (7), N’Didi (6), Choudhury (6), Fatawu (7), Mavididi (6), Fatawu (7), Vardy (6). Subs: Iheanacho (5), Albrighton (7) Akgun (6) Doyle (6) McAteer (7)
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.