Everton 4 City 0
Post Match Analysis by Colin Hall
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.
At 2.59 pm on a sunny afternoon, the away section of Goodison Park was in expectant mood.
Enthused by their team’s victory at Tottenham in the previous league fixture, the Leicester City fans in attendance believed the team could follow this up by seeing off goal-shy hosts who were missing several main goal threats, and thus taking another stride towards Premier League safety.
Yet, once Everton kicked off, they took just TEN SECONDS to destroy such illusions.
Pickford’s hopeful punt forward was allowed to bounce by the visiting defence, who then allowed Doucouré to take a touch before firing the Toffees ahead. This was a goal even a under-10s side would have been ashamed to concede, let alone a team with EIGHT full internationals in the starting line-up and players on six-figure weekly salaries.
Even so, a team with character and spirit could have moved on from such an early setback.
However, City were unable to do so, instead falling further behind within six minutes. This time, it was Tarkowski with the through ball and Beto, a striker with a hitherto-modest scoring record, who strolled through the defence to provide the finish.
The visitors continued to be a distant second-best in every area of the field for the remainder of the half, and it was no surprise that the toxicity that had been evident in the stands at the King Power Stadium during recent home defeats returned with a vengeance.
While serious questions need to be asked about the way certain individuals have run the club in recent times, there should be no place for the crude and misogynistic insults that were hurled in their direction.
Meanwhile the hosts wasted further chances to extend their lead, with Beto blasting over from close range and Garner’s angled drive striking the woodwork. But just when City thought the damage had been limited to just two goals, Beto struck again in first-half stoppage time, converting a Garner pass to leave the returning Mads Hermansen helpless.
Although the Dane was unable to bring the defensive stability for which many Foxes had hoped on his return from injury, he was one of the few City players who emerged from Goodison with credit.
In addition, Bilal El-Khannouss, attempting to repeat his heroics in the Spurs match, made valiant efforts to kick-start a revival, but was let down badly by many of his more experienced colleagues, whose feeble capitulations provoked cries from the visiting contingent of “You’re not fit to wear the shirt”.
For reasons only known to himself, Ruud van Nistelrooy chose to make no changes whatsoever during the break. It soon became clear, though, that his faith in the starting 11 would not be rewarded. Everton retained an iron grip on the game and their fans took particular delight in seeing Jamie Vardy eventually brought off.
In past years, the City captain has been a regular thorn in the hosts’ flesh. But as all too often this season, especially on his travels, he was a pale shadow of his former self here.
The City subs, when finally introduced, looked lively, with Patson Daka even forcing Pickford into a save for the first (and only) time in the match after 72 minutes.
But the destiny of the points was never seriously threatened and Everton added further gloss to their victory in the closing minutes. Wout Faes, reminding onlookers of the qualities that have helped to see off his managers at both club and international level in recent months, saw a clearance rebound into the path of Ndiaiye, who gleefully seized the opportunity to add his name to the scoresheet.
Sadly, the indignities of the afternoon did not end with the final whistle. After the game, a section of the City support that was still present within the stadium actually saw fit to applaud the players as they left the field.
Had the home supporters witnessed such a wretched display from their own team, it’s safe to say their reaction would have been far different. They would have been far more likely to have lain in wait outside the stadium for such underperformers and sought to drag them from their luxury cars.
Although such extreme behaviour can never be commended, the insistence on standards that give rise to it certainly should be. Such a difference in respective mentalities helps to explain why Everton’s last relegation was as long ago as 1951, while City have suffered TEN (soon to become 11) during the same time scale.
But those fans – many of whom who struggle to spell the word “ambition”, let alone seek to understand or utter it – reflect a passive defeatism that has hovered over our club (and indeed, our city in general) for far too long. It is especially worrying, given the criminal inactivity during the latest transfer window, that this corrosive attitude appears to have taken root within the City boardroom.
On and off the pitch, the club is sleep-walking towards yet another spell of lower-league obscurity, from which it may take a considerable time to emerge..
Everton (4-2-3-1): Pickford; O’Brien, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko (Patterson 88); Garner (Iroegbunam 82), Gueye: Lindstrom (Young 75), Doucouré, Ndiaye, Beto (Harrison 88) Subs not used: Begovic, Virginia, Keane, Armstrong, Sherif.
Goals: Doucouré (1), Beto (6, 45 + 2), Nidiaye (90)
Leicester (4-2-3-1): Hermansen; Justin (Coulibaly 76), Faes, Vestergaard (Okoli 60); Kristiansen; Soumaré, Winks; Ayew, El-Khannouss, DeCordova-Reid (Mavididi 76); Vardy (Daka 60). Subs not used: Stolarczyk, Coady, Skipp, Buonanotte, McAteer.
Referee: Darren Bond. VAR: Stuart Attwell Attendance: 39 376.