Tottenham 6 City 2
Report by Colin Hall
Leicester City’s run of defeats in the Premier League continued with a 6-2 hammering away to Tottenham Hotspur.
Such a scoreline is no reflection of how competitive the game was during the first 70 minutes. But the abject capitulation during the closing stages – a repetition of events at Brighton in the previous fixture – exposed the full range of defensive and mental weaknesses we have sadly come to expect from the Foxes under current management.
This was the third encounter between the sides this century to take place on the eve of a royal funeral. On both occasions, in 2002 (Princess Margaret) and 2015 (King Richard III), a Spurs victory had kept City rooted to the bottom of the table.
Hopes that the pattern might be altered this time around were somewhat dulled by news of a starting line-up featuring several City players badly out of form, though recent signing Wout Faes was available to make a delayed defensive debut.
After both sets of fans had paid a fitting tribute to the recently-departed Queen, the visitors stunned their hosts, as they had done at Brighton, by taking an early lead, when a strong run by James Justin was ended by an over-zealous challenge by Sanchez just inside the Spurs area.
Although Youri Tielemans saw his initial penalty saved by Lloris, an alert VAR noted the keeper had moved off his line too soon, and ordered a retake, which the Belgian produced extra power and precision to convert.
However, the euphoria among visiting fans was swiftly curtailed when Spurs forced a corner, from which Kulusewski crossed for an unmarked Kane (who else?) to head past Danny Ward from point-blank range. The strike means that the England captain has now scored at least once against the Foxes in eight of the last nine seasons, 2015-16 being the exception.
Both defences seemed ill-at-ease during the opening half, and it appeared only a matter of time before another goal arrived. This was duly delivered, by another Spurs setpiece, when Dier outjumped the considerably smaller Harvey Barnes to head over the hapless Ward.
The home side were now threatening to run rampant, and were slightly unfortunate to have a third goal ruled out when Sanchez was adjudged to have fouled the City keeper. At the other end, though, a strong run by Faes sent Patson Daka clear on goal, but the striker snatched at his shot and Lloris made a comfortable save.
With Tielemans and James Maddison beginning to exert a grip on midfield, City were able to create a series of chances, and restored parity when Maddison produced a quality finish to despatch a cross from Timothy Castagne past Lloris.
In a frenetic finish to the half, Ward tipped a Sanchez header onto the bar, while Tielemans and Maddison both came close to putting the Foxes ahead.
The topsy-turvy nature of the contest continued after the break, with Tottenham soon regaining the lead, when Bentancur raced clear after dispossessing Wilfred Ndidi and beat Ward with a composed finish. While the City midfielder didn’t cover himself in glory in this incident, the pass to him from Jonny Evans, who endured another wretched afternoon as captain, was far from the best.
Despite further defensive wobbles, in which Ward was called into action several times, City came agonisingly close to another equaliser when Lloris turned away a Daka header at full stretch.
The shuffling of the pack by Antonio Conte on the home bench was to prove decisive, though. Not long after a minute’s applause by the fans to mark the 70 years of Her Late Majesty’s reign, a further Bentancur break set up substitute Son (another regular thorn in City flesh) to extend the home lead.
In an instant, the spirit and belief that had infused so much of the visitors’ performance to this stage had now disappeared.. Even the introduction of substitutes Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho proved insufficient to halt the Spurs onslaught.
As the Foxes defence visibly tired during the final minutes, Son added to his side’s tally with a powerful long-range drive, and then completed his hat-trick after being set up by Hojbjerg, although the latter goal was only confirmed following a VAR intervention to overturn an initial ruling of offside.
Once again, the Blue Army were left frustrated by a display in which City players, with the notable exceptions of Faes and Maddison, performed well below their capabilities, both individually and collectively.
The lack of defensive organisation and leadership – again laid bare in North London – has been an issue in every league game to date this seaon. The failure of the coaching and management team to address, let alone correct, this flaw should have brought consequences well before now.
As everyone outside the King Power boardroom (bar a small group of diehard loyalists and infatuated journalists) has been aware for some time, the Brendan Rodgers era at City has run its course. Unless and until his time at the club is brought to a close, it will continue to plunge with increasing rapidity towards relegation.
The owner and chief executive have a decision to make, which they should not delay for much longer. Their ambitious plans for redevelopment in Leicester – approved in principle by local authorities only last week – cannot and will not be financed by lower-league revenue streams.
Tottenham (3-4-3): Lloris (c); Sanchez (Romero 59), Dier, Lenglet; Perisic (Emerson Royal 55), Hojbjerg, Bentancur, Sessegnon; Kulusevski (Bissouma 70), Richarlison (Son 59), Kane. Subs not used: Forster, Doherty, Tanganga, Skipp, Gil.
Goals: Kane (8), Dier (21), Bentancur (47), Son (73, 84, 86).
Booking: Perisic.
Leicester (4-1-4-1): Ward; Castagne, Evans (c), Faes, Justin; Ndidi (Soumaré 85); Maddison, Tielemans, Dewsbury-Hall (Iheanacho 74), Barnes; Daka (Vardy 74). Subs not used: Iversen, Amartey, Thomas, Albrighton, Praet, Pérez.
Goals: Tielemans (6 pen), Maddison (41).
Bookings: Ndidi, Daka.
Referee: Simon Hooper VAR: Jarred Gillett Attendance: 61 450.
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