Leicester City twice came back from a goal down to rescue a point against Everton at the King Power stadium this afternoon. In the face of injuries to four key players and competing against an excellent team, who finished 5th in the Premier League last term, the Foxes proved that they do have enough about them to compete at the highest level of English football. Vardy and James, who had been so instrumental in Leicester's success last season were absent through injury, as was Albrighton - who has been so impressive in pre-season. When Drinkwater limped off with a hamstring injury in the 39th minute, City fans may have wondered if it was going to be their day. However, Leicester showed great resolve and team spirit as Hammond and King competed well in central midfield and the Morgan/Moore partnership kept £28 million Lukaku quiet throughout the match. Substitutes Schlupp and Wood made positive contributions when they entered the fold to demonstrate that Leicester have more strength in depth than some would credit them with.
Everton dominated possession throughout the game with 64% over the course of the 90 minutes. However, Leicester matched the Toffees in terms of efforts on target - both sides managing 3 each. The visitors took the lead in the 20th minute. Schmeichel made a brilliant save to deny Distin before McGeady curled a superb shot into the top right hand corner of the net. City were behind for less than two minutes with Ulloa scrambling the ball home after Everton failed to deal effectively with a City corner. Naismith restored Everton's lead just before the break. Knockaert slipped, allowing Baines to cross. Pienaar failed to connect properly with his shot and the ball fell to Naismith who made no mistake and finished into the top left hand corner.
Chances were at a premium in the second half. One of the best opportunities fell to Jeff Schlupp, who raced onto a superb Mahrez through ball only to blast over the crossbar from the edge of the box. City were rewarded for their perseverance in the 86th minute. Mahrez and King's efforts were both blocked before the ball fell to Chris Wood. The Kiwi international curled the ball into the bottom corner to send the sell-out crowd into raptures and to put Leicester's first point of the season on the board. With such a tough start to the season, it was an important result and performance for the Foxes. They are back in the big time and, based on this afternoon's performance, they are certainly not out of place.
No comments:
Post a Comment