LEICESTER CITY 0 CRYSTAL PALACE 2
Post Match Analysis by Paul Weston
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.
There was a whiff of optimism before the match after the goal fest against QPR in the FA Cup although no-one was completely fooled by the score line. The defensive blunders which presented QPR with their two goals were par for the course for City this season as they faced two home games against Palace and Fulham in their bid to haul themselves up from the league’s basement.
RVN selected the same team as against QPR apart from preferring Vestergaard to Coady. It was hard to find a reason, given Vestergaard’s lack of speed and agility. Vardy, at 38, was again asked to lead the line only a few days after his last performance. I have nothing but admiration for Vardy, but something is terribly wrong with our recruitment when this is our best option.
Rumours swirled around the King Power about Hermansen’s continuing absence. Is he really injured or wrapped in cottonwool for a sale in the January transfer window? Similarly, Cannon’s recall from Stoke. Could it be for much needed back up to Vardy or, more likely, a sale to a Championship club? Never mind, there was news that we had bought a defender Coulibaly from Parma for the princely sum of £3 million, which makes one wonder if we are now in the bargain basement league now for transfers. Let us hope at that price that he proves to be the steal of the century and that he can inject some steel into our porous defence.
Mystery surrounds the arbitration following our most recent supposed compliance with PSR and the possible sanctions by The Championship if we are relegated. At the same time the inquiry into the awful helicopter crash proceeds and puts things into perspective, although no doubt has an effect on staff who remember all too vividly that terrible day.
The match itself started positively and for about 35 minutes City looked like scoring. There was an obvious shape and RVN plan and the team were aggressive in tackles and swiftly moved forward. Vardy seemed to have so much space and Buonanotte and El Khannouss were linking up really well. Justin was playing with confidence after his brace of goals against QPR. Vardy missed a couple of great chances but crosses often went across the box with too few players ready to pounce.
Palace seemed to be content to wait and pounce after a City mistake. That did not happen too often but if the ball was lost by Soumare or Winks it left our ponderous defence exposed. You could sense the tension in our defence and in the crowd when it happened. Nevertheless, there was crowd support as the first half ended 0-0 after a creditable display but City should really have been 2-0 up.
City failed to start the second half with the same intensity as they did at the beginning of the match. Palace had clearly worked out a plan to stifle the energy of Buonanotte and El Khannouss and started to boss the game. Palace do not play great football, but they are effective. They waltzed through the centre of City’s midfield and past the statuesque figure of Vestergaard for Mateta to round our goalie and score. It was the simplest of goals and should have been avoided.
City rallied, with Daka, McAteer and Skipp coming on, and Soumare hit the bar with a looping shot. However, there was always the feeling that Palace were waiting to pounce again and soon it happened. City lost the ball in midfield and gave away a free kick. Eze swung it over and Guehi, tracked ineffectively by McAteer, volleyed in. And that was that – City huffed and puffed but created little else other than a shot on target in stoppage time.
If City are to avoid relegation, then they had to get three points out of this type of match. It is looking grim for the Foxes, not helped by a fan’s pitch invasion, or by boos and chants against our director of football from the stands. As the players trudged around the pitch applauding those supporters in the stands who had remained until the end, it felt like this was the match when our short Premier League stay ended. I really hope that I am wrong.
Leicester ratings: Stolarczyk (6) Justin (6) Faes (5) Vestergaard (4) Kristiansen (6) Winks (6) Soumare (6) Buonanotte (6) El Khannouss (6) Mavididi (6) Vardy (6) McAteer (6) Skipp (5) Daka (6) Ayew (4)