SHEFF WEDS 2 FOXES 1
Report by Graham Tracey
From a position of 1-0 up after two minutes against a team without a manager and one win all season, Leicester inexplicably failed to crush their opponents while they were down, and fell to a surprise limp defeat at Hillsborough.
We were a completely different outfit from the rampaging side of last Saturday, and it left me wondering whether being league leaders had brought with it either complacency or pressure that we couldn’t handle. Given last year’s collapse from an automatic promotion place, mental strength in leading the pack will be crucial to our promotion aspirations.
An unchanged eleven took the pitch and carried on their attacking frenzy right from kick-off. Knockaert, who deserved a goal on Saturday, was rewarded for his tireless running and enthusiasm as he cut in from the right, shuffled between two defenders, and unleashed an unstoppable left footer into the roof of the net.
At this stage the Owls players and fans must have been thinking ‘here we go again’, but we let them back into the match within a few minutes. An overhit cross found Wickham beyond the far post, and he took advantage of a defensive slip to make space for a shot. I’m sure Schmeichel would have thought ‘I don’t mind you trying your luck from that angle’, but the pace of the shot went through his fingertips and just inside the post.
Words were being exchanged between our rear guard on several occasions as we looked uncomfortable when Owls ran at our defence. This unease translated into a second avoidable goal after 25 minutes, as we failed to push out from a corner, and the ball was played in to Wickham, whose fairly weak cross-cum-shot caught everyone out and went in off the post.
Despite underperforming, we were still carving out chances when we did hit our straps, a long-range one-two between Nugent and Dyer ended with the latter firing over from virtually one-on-one, and likewise Vardy miscued when well placed. However, there was a major blow when Knockaert was scythed down by the rightly reviled Mattock, and was unable to return for the second half. It was one of those times when justice would only have been served if the ref could have upgraded the yellow card to the red one as we were left with the disadvantage.
The second half was a huge disappointment. Drinkwater was industrious and probing, but having James and the sub Hammond on the pitch at the same time left us lacking creativity. I fear he may make no more impact at our club than his namesake Elvis a few years ago.
We had a lot of possession down the left, but Konchesky and Dyer were always closed down quickly. Nugent had a snapshot acrobatically tipped round the post, and volleyed wide of an unguarded goal after the keeper had blocked a ball at Vardy’s feet. Wood came on and won a number of headers, but there was never anyone there to capitalise on them on a night characterised by us being second to the ball.
I don’t know whether it was a blessing or a curse that we stayed top from QPR on goals scored. Despite our better away form this season, our 3 defeats on the road have been against lowly teams. Perhaps the run of games against our promotion rivals in December will bring the best out of us, as has often been the case historically.
Foxes: Schmeichel 4, Wasilewski 5, Miquel 6, Morgan 6, Konchesky 6, Dyer 7, James 6, Drinkwater 8, Knockaert 7, Nugent 7, Vardy 6. Subs: Hammond 3, Wood 7, Schlupp 4
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