Derby 1 City 3
Report by Colin Hall
Leicester City’s preparation for the 2022-23 season continued with a 3-1 victory at League 1 side Derby.
Kelechi Iheanacho, Patson Daka and Callum Wright all found the net for the Foxes, who made light of the absence of Brendan Rodgers and most of the first-choice team, otherwise engaged on duty in a win at Preston later in the afternoon.
Nevertheless, it was only the absence through injury of Danny Ward and Ryan Bertrand that prevented assistant boss Chris Davies from being able to field a side consisting entirely of full internationals.
With six members of this team expected to feature in the forthcoming World Cup, the visiting hordes had reasonable hopes that City would make quality tell against hosts still in the early stages of rebuilding following their recent takeover.
Ultimately, that was what happened, but many fans were satisfied with the overall display against competitive and spirited opposition.
The Foxes took time to find a rhythm in the early stages, which was understandable for a side missing many key names. Eventually, though, the central midfield trio of Wilfred Ndidi, Youri Tielemans and Dennis Praet established a grip on the game.
However, wasteful finishing, most notably by Daka, meant that the first-half breakthrough that City’s efforts deserved was not forthcoming.
The home side stepped up a gear after the break, forcing a free-kick on the edge of the City penalty area in the opening minutes, but City’s defence of the set-piece was at a much higher level than that seen for much of last season.
Minutes later, Iheanacho finally put the visitors ahead after taking a pass from Timothy Castagne and firing home a left-foot effort which took home keeper Wildsmith by surprise at his near post.
But any thoughts that City would be able to coast through the rest of the game were dashed, when the home side produced a quick passing move for Barkhuizen to outwit Jannik Vestergaard and beat keeper Jakub Stolarczyk with a composed finish.
During a ragged period of play, punctuated by several substitutions, Daka missed two further chances to restore City’s lead, before a weak header by Vestergaard gave Mendez-Laing the chance to put the hosts ahead, only for the winger to snatch at his shot and send it wastefully over.
This proved a crucial moment, as almost from the restart, sub Papy Mendy sent Daka clear, and this time the Zambian was able to find the scoring touch that had previously eluded him.
In the closing stages, as the home side’s exertions began to tell on them, Wright, a late sub for Iheanacho, made the game safe by tapping home a rebound after Wildsmith had denied Tielemans a goal on what may have been the Belgian’s last appearance in a City shirt.
A lapse by Stolarczyk in stoppage time almost presented Derby with a consolation, as he allowed a backpass by Caglar Söyüncü to slide under his foot and strike a post. Fortunately for the young Pole, he was sufficiently alert to deny Collins from the rebound.
Despite the scares, this City side deserve credit for the professionalism and motivation that was in evidence at Pride Park – qualities which were too often absent on many of last season’s travels.
Although it is unclear how much of a role these squad members will play in the forthcoming campaign, several of them, including Söyüncü and Praet, did enough to suggest they could yet still play their way back into the management’s plans.
Derby (4-3-3): Wildsmith;Knight, Davies (c) (Cashin 87), Chester, Roberts (Forsyth 73); Smith (Oduroh 58), Bird, Hourihane (Thompson 82); Mendez-Laing (Strettonn 80) Barkhuizen (Sibley 73), Collins. Substitutes not used: Loach, Stearman, Robinson.
Goal: Barkhuizen (65).
Leicester (3-5-2): Stolarczyk; Amartey, Vestergaard, Söyüncü; Castagne. Ndidi (Mendy 62). Tielemans (c), Praet (Choudhury 77), Thomas; Iheanacho (Wright 83), Daka. Substitutes not used: Odunze, Marcal-Madivadua, Flynn, Maswanhise, Alves.
Goals: Iheanacho (54), Daka (78), Wright (86)
Attendance: 9 805 (2 376 away supporters).
Referee: Bobby Madden
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