Leicester City 1 vs Fulham 2
King Power Stadium, 30 November 2020
Report by Colin Murrant
Fulham arrived at the KP in 19th place with only 4 points, the hosts lay in 4th place with 18 points and could, perhaps improbably, have gone top with a large win. It was a surprise then to see the City line-up with only Vardy as a recognised forward as Barnes dropped to the bench: Albrighton also missed out from the starting line-up. The Cottagers left out Crainey and Mitrovic two of their better-known, and, on their day, most dangerous players.
Before the match the players paid their respects to Diego Maradona and Papa Bouba Diop who both passed away during the last week.
Fulham set up to defend deep with a 5-man defence and to hit City on the break, the folly of Rodger’s team selection quickly became apparent as The Foxes were getting nowhere trying to pass their way through a resolute and packed defence. With City over committing there were couple of occasions when Fulham broke away, notably a Lookman chance: the signs were there when just before the half hour with City defence in disarray. Anguissa broke from his own half, avoided a desperate tackle from Praet, and laid the ball to Lookman who, unchallenged, coolly slotted past Schmeichel.
A few minutes later and Fulham were two up; Reid chased a ball into the box and would have closed in on the City goal, Fuchs made a challenge and replays on the TV showed it was a foul. City fans had little hope as play went on for a couple of minutes before VAR advised referee Hooper to look at the replay; inevitably the penalty was awarded and Cavaleiro hammered the ball into the roof of the net.
By half time it was difficult to remember too many City chances. A free kick from Maddison that rebounded off the wall to Tielemans who hit the post from 25 yards, the ball broke to Fofana who hit the bar from close range. Apart from that one incident, a clever back heel from Vardy was the only other chance of note.
At half time Under and Barnes replaced Thomas and Praet replacing Thomas and Praet as the team switched to a back for. City had plenty of possession in the Fulham half but were still creating very little in the way of good chances. The two-goal lead let Fulham to defend deeper and in greater numbers.
On the hour Iheanacho came on for Mendy. Almost immediately City were in trouble as Evans was fouled in the corner. He took the free kick himself and, in haste to get the ball in play, rolled the ball past Schmeichel and towards the goal line: Fofana gathered the ball but came back across his goal into more danger with City eventually conceding a corner. On 75 minutes a good inter-passing move by the visitors led to Lookman avoiding Fofana’s challenge and his close-range shot was brilliantly saved by Schmeichel.
Under was looking lively, cutting in from the right he got his shot away but managed to hit Iheanacho which about summed up City’s night.
On 86 minutes City finally scored as Vardy headed the ball to Barnes who took a touch before blasting home from 10 yards. Maddison tried his luck from 25 yards but failed to trouble the keeper. There were half chances for Iheanacho but nothing of real consequence.
The comedy was complete when City had a corner well into added on time. Schmeichel came up for the corner but the ball failed to beat the first man. The ball was won from Tielemans by Fulham who broke with the City keeper racing back towards his own goal. Mitrovic, on as a late substitute, gathered the ball and ran from his own half and should have shot but decided instead to pass; Schmeichel still chasing back to goal managed to tackle in midfield and the ball broke for a Fulham corner. As soon as the kick was taken the whistle blew and City suffered their third defeat in four EPL home games.
It is difficult to understand the negativity of Rodgers at times, particularly at home. Of the last four home matches in the EPL, City have lost to Villa, WHU, Fulham and a dubious penalty 1-0 win against Wolves. Apart from the penalty, the only goal in the 4 matches has been the Barnes effort tonight.
Whilst the manager’s defensive tactics work wonderfully well away, at home they are totally unwarranted, especially against teams not in the higher echelons of the League. The mindset of the players must be impacted by the team and tactics chosen by the manager. For a manager who claims to like the tactics of the game, his regular swings between getting it so right and then so wrong is hard to comprehend.
No doubt there will be claims that the players failed to carry out the tactics but Rodgers needs to find away to win at home. With away sides defending deep to stifle Vardy’s runs, City need to have more ideas than trying to pass their way through packed defences.
City are at their best when they play at a faster tempo, the second half at Brava is but one example of this. It is hoped that the imminent return from injury of the more experienced players will enable City to be more adventurous at home.
Leicester City: Schmeichel, Justin, Fofana, Evans, Fuchs, Thomas, Mendy, Tielemans, Praet, Maddison, Vardy. Subs: Ward, Choudhury, Morgan, Albrighton, Barnes, Under, Iheanacho.
Fulham: Areola, Aina, Andersen, Adarabioyo, Robinson, Reed, Anguissa, Cavaleiro, Loftus-Cheek, Decordova-Reid, Lookman. Subs: Rodak, Ream, Bryan, Cairney, Lemina, Mitrovic, Kamara
Referee: Simon Hooper
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