LEICESTER CITY 2 SPURS 3
Match Report by Paul Weston
I expect I was not the only City fan who woke up early on the morning after the match. I had this nightmare that, in just two minutes at the end of the match, City managed to throw away three points by allowing Spurs to score twice in two brainless minutes of football. Well, folks, it really did take place and I still cannot quite believe it happened.
City welcomed back a few injured players for this match, the most welcome was seeing James Justin on the substitutes bench for the first time in about a year. However, our substantial injury list continued and, even though Son was missing from the Spurs line-up, I was not optimistic for a good result as our midfield seemed weak compared to Spurs.
Spurs dominated possession early on with a spate of corners. Our new tactics of man marking somehow seemed to work, although our defence still looked edgy, as was the crowd, every time there was a corner. It was not long before Kane hit the bar from a corner and then, from yet another swift break, Kane looked to have scored but Thomas cleverly cleared off the line.
Totally against the run of play City scored. Dewsbury-Hall burst down the left, where Spurs were at their weakest, and after some nifty work from Lookman, Daka scored from a narrow angle.
Maddison then had a great long range shot well saved by Loris. City then grew in confidence but then, just when they were in the ascendency, Spurs equalized. Kane broke through a flimsy defence despite desperate pleas for offside, left Soyuncu on the floor and scored off the post. Vestergaard was left miles behind play.
Spurs then started to dominate again and Hojbjerg nearly scored but for a superb goal line clearance from makeshift right back Albrighton. City players were applauded off at half term for a hard working display, even though Spurs had missed several chances, with Kane the guilty party on many occasions.
Conte had spotted the Achilles heel in his side and brought on Doherty for Emerson Royal. This changed the dynamic immediately. Doherty not only looked more solid in defence but motored down the right wing all second half with dangerous effect. Rodgers soon reacted by bringing on Justin for Thomas to a standing ovation from the fans after such a long lay off.
The match became more open and City lived dangerously at times. Midfield was breached too many times and, without the impact of Ndidi, this exposed the shaky pairing of Soyuncu and Vestergaard with the willing support of Choudhury who was doing his best in an unfamiliar position.
Daka had less of an impact as the match progressed, although he had little support and very rarely were passes made to his runs. Rodgers then brought on Barnes for Daka with almost immediate effect somewhat out of the blue. A neat interchange between Barnes and Maddison led to a goal by Maddison with the aid of a slight deflection from a defender. 2-1 in the lead with 14 minutes to go. What could go wrong?
Conte made his third substitute in the 79th minute, bringing on Bergwijn for Reguilon. City brought on Soumare for Dewsbury-Hall in the 88th minute who had played really well but was tiring and had taken a knock.
There was a fracas in the City penalty area close to the end of the match when Bergwijn went down claiming a penalty. He then jumped up and pushed Soyuncu in the chest. Our favourite referee John Moss only brandished a yellow card. Should it have been a red card?
5 minutes of injury time were awarded. In the fourth minute of injury time City lost the ball in midfield, yet again, and from a good ball from Hojbjerg, Justin was isolated, Doherty’s shot was blocked but Bergwijn scored from the rebound. It was shambolic defending. City fans and players were stunned.
Two points thrown away at the end. And then it got even worse. Tielemans, who had not had a good game, thought he could dribble through the centre of the pitch from the kick off and lost possession. City had too many men forward as Kane played a ball to that man Bergwijn who went wide with Schmeichel close by and then shot off the post with Soyuncu on the wrong side of the goal. Vestergaard was nowhere to be seen. City players slumped to the floor as Spurs players and fans celebrated deliriously.
So now that the dust has settled and, in readiness for the Brighton match, what have we learned?
- I am sorry but, in my opinion, Vestergaard has been a truly awful signing. He is an obvious weakness in defence which teams can exploit. He cannot head the ball, is painfully slow to turn and has no physical presence despite his size. I just cannot see what his strengths are and I would rather that we start to bring in one of our under 23 players instead until either Evans or Fofana returns. Until that happens it is easy to see that we will let in at least two goals a game and will not make progress up the league table.
- Soyuncu’s performances, for all his last minute tackles, have gone backwards and not helped by constant changes around him. He has meltdown moments when put under pressure.
- We do not have an organiser on the pitch. There was a time in this match when we needed a cool head. I would have thought that person was Tielemans but he, for once, made the error that led to the last goal.
- Without Ndidi our defence is exposed too easily. Can Soumare carry out this role? If not we need to recruit now in advance of Tielemans’ departure which surely will happen at the end of this season.
- Dewsbury-Hall has been a revelation. Are there more players on the fringe that could benefit from some game time?
- We are not making the best use of Daka’s speed and mobility. On many times in the first half he made intelligent runs for the ball only to see it being passed back and sideways.
- Even without Vardy we look dangerous upfront when we have the ball played to feet.
- Albrighton is doing his best at right back but will struggle against the better players.
- Choudhury could still have a role in this team. He showed improvement in his game.
Looking ahead to Sunday, Brighton are a good team, although a little shot shy. They are superb at corners so it is not difficult to see where their goal(s) will come from. The question is – will City score more than the opposition and wipe out the memory of this match against Spurs?
Tottenham: Lloris; Tanganga, Sanchez, Davies; Emerson, Skipp, Hojbjerg, Winks, Reguilon; Lucas, Kane. Subs: Gollini, Sessegnon, Rodon, Doherty, Lo Celso, Gil, Dele, Bergwijn, Scarlett.
Leicester: Schmeichel: Choudhury, Vestergaard, Söyüncü:, Albrighton, Tielemans, Dewsbury-Hall, Thomas: Maddison, Daka, Lookman. Subs: Jakupovic, Ward, Justin, Perez, Barnes, Soumare, Daley-Campbell, McAteer, Brunt
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