Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Leicester City
Report by Chris Griffin
The 1-1 draw was Leicester’s 17th successive Championship game without defeat. Anything less than a draw would have been unfair on a City side that played with authority through the first half and came back strongly after a weak start to the second. Overall a fair outcome: as Fox assistant manager Craig Shakespeare acknowledged, “Blackburn would have been disappointed not to take something from it.”
A crowd of over 16,000 – more than three and half thousand from Leicester -watched an entertaining game with both sides going for the win (making the referee’s booking of Schmeichel for alleged time-wasting puzzling to say the least.)
Following a low-key opening ten minutes City gradually took control. Drinkwater and James were constantly at the heart of good build up play which saw Knockaert and Mahrez frequently involved through their quick passing and interplay. An early foul on Mahrez led to a James free kick played just a little too heavily for the encroaching Vardy whose pace was clearly a problem to the Blackburn defenders.
Nugent had a shot blocked following a free-flowing move down City’s left wing. At the City end Rhodes, constantly lurking on the shoulder of the last defender, nearly slipped in, but Wasilewski calmly dealt with the situation.
It was no surprise when City deservedly took the lead. Another quick break saw Robinson parry a fierce Nugent shot. The alert Mahrez retrieved the ball and rolled a pass to de Laet as he burst into the area. He in turn squared to Vardy who tucked away the chance from close in: a really well-worked goal showing Mahrez’s great awareness of what is happening around him.
Rovers nearly levelled the game immediately when Rhodes’ shot, following a corner, was well saved by Schmeichel. Rhodes then went down in the penalty area under pressure from de Laet: a nice try, but appeals from Rovers fans for a penalty owed more to hope than realism.
City continued to control the game: a quick break saw the Blackburn defence do well to deny Vardy a shooting chance as he raced in on goal. A brilliant move involving James and Mahrez resulted in a Vardy shot over the bar. A move between Schlupp and Mahrez saw a low cross played though the six yard box but with no one on hand to finish.
The thought that City needed to make their superiority count with another goal was confirmed just before half time. De Laet conceded an unnecessary corner from long-distance. From Conway’s driven corner Kilgallon smartly came away from his marker and his glancing header flew into the far corner of the net, beating Knockaert’s forlorn attempt to clear.
Any City fan hoping that the equaliser was a wake-up call for the Foxes soon met reality at the start of the second half. All the play was at the far end – the City goal end – with Leicester under sustained pressure, often self-inflicted.
As well as corners, City regularly conceded throw-ins and free kicks in their defensive third. They seldom found their men with clearances – and on the rare occasion they did the ball did not stick up front. It was a period of anywhere will do combined with a determined resilience. Kasper helped out with a good punched clearance. Rovers’ front man Gestede had a shot blocked on the line by his own team-mate Rhodes.
Curiously, this period saw a great chance for Leicester. Vardy latched onto a long ball, rounded Robinson with ease, but with an open goal beckoning his shot from a wide angle struck the post. To rub salt into the wound the rebound evaded the supporting City players – and with not one Blackburn defender in sight.
Around the hour mark City made two changes with Hammond coming on for Knockaert and Moore for de Laet. The momentum of the game started to change. Hammond was effective in winning possession and prompting City forward with some well- judged passing. Moore spent the last half hour camped in the Rovers’ half, combining well with Drinkwater.
A corner saw a City header hit the side netting. James shot over the bar after a Moore long throw. Drinkwater drove wide after Mahrez and Schlupp had combined well down the left. Schlupp was becoming increasingly influential going forward, especially once the referee belatedly woke up to the fact that he deserved protection from some dubious Blackburn tackling. It followed further great work by Schlupp that Mahrez shot wide.
Meanwhile Blackburn still looked dangerous on the break and Schmeichel brought off a good save. Later Rhodes had a chance but shot wildly.
By now King was on for James. City kept pressing: a run for Vardy ended in a foul and Nugent headed wide from the Mahrez fee kick. Another Vardy run led to the ball reaching Drinkwater who shot wide. A superb Schlupp dribble led to a corner which was cleared. In the lead up to this Blackburn defender Henley was injured and stretchered off. Vardy then played a good ball across the box but again no one was on hand to tap in.
Despite all the effort there was no winning goal.
Ten games left. Next up are Yeovil on Tuesday night, the first of a five-games-in-a-fortnight sequence, which includes away games at title rivals Burnley and in-form Wigan. Given the run-in assistant manager Shakey was spot on when commenting on the Blackburn result: “As you get to what people call the business end of the season, we have to see it as a point gained.”
Blackburn Rovers: Robin; Henley (Kane – 87' ); Spurr; Williamson (King – 91' ); Keane; Kilgallon Booked; Feeney (Taylor – 77' ); Evans; Gestede; Rhodes; Conway. Substitutes not used: Dunn; Eastwood; Olsson; Varney; Taylor
Leicester City: Schmeichel Booked; de Laet (Moore – 64' ); Schlupp; Drinkwater; Wasilewski; Morgan; Knockaert (Hammond – 62' ); James (King – 76' ); Vardy Nugent; Mahrez. Substitutes not used: Taylor-Fletcher; Logan; Phillips; Wood
Referee: Eddie Ilderton Attendance: 16,528
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