Leicester City 4 – 0 Plymouth Argyle
Post Match Analysis by Chris Griffin
City dominated the game, apart from a period of self-inflicted damage at the end of the first half. The impressive performance demonstrated that the possession-based game which Enzo Maresca is bedding in can be combined with impressive attacking football.
Iheanacho and Vardy were not available and McAteer and Akgun not included. Daka came in up front and Choudhury replaced the suspended Pereira. Choudhury was captain for the game.
The opening minutes quickly demonstrated differences between the styles of each team. Leicester kept tight control of possession and looked to spread the ball to the touch line hugging Fatawu and Mavididi. Plymouth were playing it long, especially along the inside right channel, through long passes from centre back Pleguezelo.
City took the lead in the 14th minute. Dewsbury-Hall and Mavididi combined down the left. Dewsbury-Hall was brought down but the referee let play continue. Mavididi dribbled directly into the area and was brought down by Pleguezelo. Referee Gill (who had an excellent game) pointed straight to the spot. Mavididi sent his low penalty into the left hand corner beyond Cooper’s dive.
Leicester dominated for the next twenty minutes and really should have added to their tally. A superb Winks’ pass sent Ndidi through for a one-on-one but he delayed his shot and Cooper was able to smother the ball. Fatawu, who was excellent, sent a curving left foot shot just past the post with the keeper beaten. A Mavididi cross from the left fell to Daka who somehow manged to miss from a yard out, sending the ball back across the face of the goal. A fast break from Mavididi had the Argyle defence all over the place. He slipped the ball to the unmarked Fatawu who, instead of shooting, tried to play Ndidi in but the midfielder could not stretch enough to steer the ball into the open goal.
Around about the half hour mark the game changed inexplicably. After the game Maresca referred to his side “losing a little bit of control.” From J block in the East stand it looked a case of a contagious football madness with pass after pass going to opponents who did not hesitate to attack us. Fortunately, Hermansen was in top shot-stopping form frustrating efforts from Bundu and Wright. A succession of Argyle corners built up the pressure and there was some panicky defending. City survived. Faes drew a line under the chaos when he thumped a long diagonal clearance from City’s right side touchline to Argyle’s right side touchline: a clear case of “anywhere will do.”
The half-time chat reflected on whether Enzo had a hair dryer and would he be using it. Fans soon had their answer as City put on a superb opening ten minutes display scoring three goals in the process. In the 49th minute a long pass from Hermansen along the inside right channel gave Fatawu the chance to gather the ball. Despite pressure from Gibson, Fatawu played the ball square where the supporting Daka coolly picked his spot and drove the ball into the net. Three minutes later a cross-field move from City saw Fatawu picking out the unmarked Mavididi. The winger dribbled the ball inside the box. For a second it looked as if he had held the ball too long. But twisting and turning he found space and drove a low left foot shot past Cooper: a super goal. City had not finished. Daka took possession in the Argyle penalty box and played a carefully weighted pass to Ndidi who dinked the ball into the far corner of the net off the inside of the post.
The situation gave Maresca the chance to make some changes. Tom Cannon came on for his Championship debut with City, replacing Daka. The young striker showed good mobility, a sure first touch and neat, accurate passing. Albrighton, replacing Mavididi, rolled back the years and treated the crowd to a twenty minute dribbling cameo. Casadei replaced Dewsbury-Hall and Praet came on for Ndidi. Praet had a very good twenty minutes, his presence with Winks giving City a strong measure of midfield control. Vestergaard, who earlier could have made it five with a chance right in front of goal, was replaced by Ben Nelson at the back, another debutant.
This was “a very good performance” as Enzo said after the game, especially given that Leeds and Ipswich gained impressive away wins at Blackburn and Middlesborough. City set a standard that they need to sustain. Between now and 1 January there are a succession of games that fans might regard as “winnable” (probably best to exclude the Ipswich game from that list.) If the team plays as it did for most of today then fans can look ahead with optimism.
However, as we all know, you cannot take anything for granted in the Championship.
Leicester City: Hermansen; Choudhury; Faes; Vestergaard (Nelson 81’); Justin; Winks; Ndidi (Praet 69’); Dewsbury-Hall (Casadei 69’); Fatawu; Daka (Cannon 63’); Mavididi (Albrighton 63’).
Plymouth Argyle: Cooper; Edwards; Pleguezelo; Gibson; Miller (Galloway 57’); Randell (Houghton 77’); Butcher; Azaz (Cundle 66’); Whittaker (Mumba 66’); Bundu (Hardie 57’); Wright.
Referee: Sunny Singh Gill
Attendance: 31,265
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.