City 6 – 1 Huddersfield Town
Report by Stuart Dawkins
I was not previously aware that the transfer window opened on precisely the 1st of January, but City completed the paper-work to sign Chris Wood in time for him to make his debut against Huddersfield on New Years Day. He scored his first Leicester goal within five minutes, could have had a hat-trick within the first fifteen minutes, and ended his debut with two goals and two assists … one of City's more memorable debuts.
As well as Wood, Pearson also brought in Keane at centre-back, whilst James kept his position alongside Drinkwater in midfield. Huddersfield won the toss and City attacked the Kop end in the first half.
City had almost scored within a minute when good work down the left led to a scramble in the Huddersfield goalmouth, before the ball was cleared from the line. Within two minutes, City had another good chance – this one requiring a decent save by keeper Smithies from a Nugent shot. Two minutes after that, City got the goal their start deserved: a corner rebounded out to the left wing, Nugent's header from the resulting cross was parried by the keeper, but Wood headed in with ease from a yard out.
City kept the pressure on from the re-start, with a fluidity of movement and passing better, even, than some of their other excellent performances this season. Smithies had another good save to make and was also injured, colliding with one of his team-mates when beating Wood to a through ball. It was no surprise when City went two up in the 24th minute: Wood and Nugent completed a delightful one-two on the half-way line, Nugent took the ball down the right wing before cutting it back for Wood to score with a first time shot from around the penalty spot.
Huddersfield had a penalty-shout a few minutes later when a shot cannoned off a City defender, but even if it did hit an arm – it was not clear – it happened so quickly that a penalty would have been harsh. Other than that, City were playing patient football, passing the ball along the back and then breaking forward with pace. One or the other of Knockaert or Marshall seemed always to be available to support the two strikers, and there was only one team looking likely to score.
Huddersfield were probably feeling grateful only to be two goals down when the 4th-official's board showed two minutes of additional time, but almost immediately Lynch needlessly gave the ball to Knockaert in the Huddersfield half, he released De Laet who took the ball into the box and fired in a powerful shot which beat the keeper from a very tight angle: 3 – 0 at half time.
Simon Grayson sent his team out for the second half several minutes early, leaving them to warm up on the pitch before City appeared. Grayson also brought on Bennett in goal to replace the injured Smithies.
Bennett's first two touches of the ball were both to take the ball out of his net following City goals. In the 49th minute, a quick break led to Konchesky attacking down the left wing, he cut the ball back for Knockaert to score from the edge of the box. Huddersfield created one of their better chances from the re-start, but it was back to business-as-usual a few minutes later when Knockaert took the ball into the box, turned past two defenders and curled the ball inside the far post for 5-0.
Dixon came on for Huddersfield to replace the hapless Lynch, then Waghorn replaced Nugent for City. Nugent had had a good game, linking up very well with Wood and having a hand in a couple of the goals.
City looked less well-balanced with Waghorn on, and there was ten minutes of inexact play which let Huddersfield into the game for the first time. A poor pass by Marshall conceded possession on the half-way line, and hesitant defending led to a shot by Huddersfield which was blocked by Schmeichel, but Arfield made no mistake from the rebound. Despite the quality of City's performance overall, I'm sure that Pearson will be a little annoyed that City had let in the kind of sloppy goal which has happened a little too often this season.
A few minutes later, Marshall gave away possession again, and injured himself reaching to try to tackle to make up for his error. Huddersfield again broke well, but this time Schmeichel made the required save.
Dyer replaced Marshall then, a little later, Gallagher replaced Knockaert – with Dyer switching to the right wing, which had been Knockaert's domain for the rest of the match. City began to re-establish their dominance, with Dyer being unlucky not to score with a couple of efforts when he got behind the Huddersfield defence.
In the 76th minute, Wood unselfishly headed a nicely-weighted cross from Gallagher sideways to the un-marked Waghorn, who volleyed the ball into the net from ten yards, completing the 6-1 score-line. The crowd were chanting 'we want seven', but it was not to be.
Whilst Wood will, deservedly, get the headlines, this was a City performance which reflected well on the whole team. James and Drinkwater had complete mastery in central midfield, with James having the best game I have seen from him. It was also noticeable that on the numerous occasions when City had the ball in a crossing position, there were many options available, with the midfielders getting forwards to support the two strikers.
Keane had a steady game; the defence did not have too much to do, but he looked to be a calm, steady player.
It seems only right for the final word to be about Wood. He is tall, and I had anticipated him being the 'front man' with Nugent playing off him, but mostly it was the other way around, with Wood roving far and wide – often back into the City half to get possession, then linking up very well with his new team-mates. It was a very impressive debut performance for a very impressive team.
City: Schmeichel, De Laet, Konchesky, Morgan (c), Keane, Drinkwater, Marshall, James, Knockaert, Nugent, Wood. Subs: Logan, Moore, King, Dyer, Gallagher, Waghorn, Futacs
Huddersfield: Smithies, Gerrard, Wallace, Lynch, Clayton, Hammill, Arfield, Southern, Hunt, Novak, Vaughan. Subs: Bennett, Dixon, P Clarke, Norwood, Robinson, Atkinson, Scannell
Attendance: 25,913
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