Leicester City 1-0 Bournemouth
Post Match Analysis by Chris Griffin
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.
For City fans this was a high stakes game which we needed to win. Six games without a victory since returning to the Premier League was not the start we wanted.
City matched Bournemouth well in the first half taking the lead through a superb goal by Buonanotte. The second half was a different story. It was tense. City were on the back foot. It took a mix of good fortune, good defending from Faes and Okoli, wasteful Bournemouth finishing and saves from Hermansen to keep the visitors out. Make no mistake: for the City fans this was a nervous watch.
Winks was left out of the starting line-up replaced by Ayew. His inclusion gave City some flexibility of formation: 4-3-3 when in possession and 4-4-2 when out of possession. Ayew worked hard and left the pitch to a warm ovation when subbed.
Okoli conceded an early free kick by the touchline. From it Bournemouth created an overload at the far post. Fortunately, the unmarked Senesi steered his header wide with the goal mouth gaping. Buonanotte countered for Leicester with a penetrating dribble and fierce shot which Arrizabalaga was able to parry into the air and then collect.
However, in the 16th minute Buonanotte was on target. He combined well with Justin wide on the right. Justin played a deft, lobbed pass into Buonanotte’s stride. The Argentinian drove into the box avoiding challenges and lashed a shot into the roof of the net from around the penalty spot. A superb goal properly acclaimed by the City fans.
City kept taking the game to Bournemouth. Mavididi was roasting the visitors’ right side. Senesi did well to cut out a Vardy bound Skipp through-pass. An excellent City move, starting deep in their left back position, saw the ball worked up and across field where Buonanotte fed Vardy. The striker shot early but had too much height on his shot.
Close to half-time Ayew received a yellow card after a tackle with Senesi. It looked a hard and committed challenge from both players, but referee Bond saw it differently. This incensed the crowd given he had kept his cards in his pocket after earlier blatant fouls on Justin and Mavididi. He had also overlooked what looked like a fair shout for a hand ball penalty earlier in the half.
The half time chat in the stands was very much along the lines of we need another one to wrap this up.
City found themselves on the back foot in the second half. Bournemouth played more urgently and energetically using a high press in Leicester’s half. City were finding this tough to cope with especially when they increased pressure on themselves by over-passing the ball out of the penalty area despite being quickly challenged by the opponents. This was in contrast to the first half when City had moved the ball higher up the pitch more quickly.
A Zabarnyi header from a Cook free kick hit the post right at the start of the second half. Too much overplaying by City at the back led to Bournemouth regaining possession and Hermansen had to parry Christie’s shot round the post.
A foul by Justin led to an excellent free kick by Cook. It seemed to have gone into the net unimpeded but luckily the linesman flagged for an offside in front of the goal which VAR backed up very quickly. Bournemouth kept up their momentum. Sinisterra rounded Justin and crossed to the far post. Incredibly the waiting Ouattara headed onto the top of the bar from about a yard out. A big let off for City.
The pressure continued but City’s defenders stuck to their guns. Faes was everywhere, winning headers and tackles and making blocks. He was well helped by OkoIi. Skipp’s defensive duties brought him more into the game and he won a lot of ball with his tackling back.
Manager Cooper made changes introducing Cordova-Reid, Fatawu, Edouard and Soumare. Edouard had an opportunity to score but delayed his shot and went down in the challenge. He was never going to get a penalty for that: it looked like an opportunity not taken.
Bournemouth kept pressing and City kept putting bodies on the line. Five minutes of overtime eventually arrived. Brooks came on for the visitors. His clever passing was setting up chances. Fortunately, his colleagues had not brought their shooting boots and City saw the game through.
At the final whistle the City fans gave the players a warm ovation. The team had absorbed lots of pressure, kept a clean sheet and made it over the line. Onwards to Southampton at St Mary’s after the international break.
Leicester City: Hermansen; Justin; Faes; Okoli; Kristiansen; Ndidi; Skipp; Buonanotte (De Cordova Reid 82’); Ayew (Soumare 88’); Mavididi (Fatawu 82’); Vardy (Edouard 74’)
Bournemouth: Arrizabalaga; Smith (Scott 63’); Zabarnyi; Senesi; Kerkes (Sinisterra 63’); Cook; Christie (Unal 74’); Semenyo; Kluivert (Ouattara 46’); Tavernier, Evanilson (Brooks 81’)
Referee: Darren Bond Attendance: 31,706