Brendan Rodgers had to make changes to his line-up just minutes before the game start. Jonny Evans had to be replaced after picking up an injury during the warm-up. It was still in the managers mind to be bold and go for an offensive approach and just slot Marc Albrighton, placing him to the left in a four men midfield, with James Maddison in a free role just in front behind Vardy and Iheanacho.
Embed from Getty ImagesNewcastle had their approach and with a good defensive structure and a goalkeeper on the alert it never became easy for Leicester as chances were blocked either by that goalkeeper or defenders. It was also clear that Callum Wilson would be a key to their formula, giving him space and handing him chances you would be thinking, is it possible.
With a bit of Leicester pressure it was Newcastle instead scoring after 22 minutes with a massive error from Caglar Soyuncu handing those Magpies a beautiful chance and their “on loan” man from Arsenal Joe Willock scoring, just minutes before Kasper Schmeichel made a monumental save from an early attempt.
We all thought that it would be another chance for Leicester, but in the 34th minute, from a corner kick no one managed to handle Paul Dummett who just outjumped everyone and his clear header went in to net, Leicester 0, Newcastle 2.
Embed from Getty ImagesLeicester had not been lucky with their approach and it looked a bit unsettled and of course with Evans out it was difficult, and playing both Castagne and Albrighton out of position and just not really being able to get the ball into the pockets and fields with two forwards not being able to get the best out of each other, it became difficult.
Everything just went from dark grey to black when Callum Wilson decided to just terrorise the Leicester City defense and showing his skills, getting too much space and just knocking in two more goals before the clock had turned 74 minutes.
Embed from Getty ImagesDespite that nightmare happenings, Leicester managed to get their act together and it was Marc Albrighton who scored the first Leicester goal after 80 minutes, being moved to the right of the field with Luke Thomas coming on in the 69th, giving Leicester a bit more balance and better flow.
A late push did come a bit too late, though Leicester had 68% possession through the 90 minutes it was another good strike that gave a bit of tiny hope for a miracle to happen. Kelechi Iheanacho strike after 87 minutes was another good goal, and of course giving this game a good finish from a Leicester point of view, but it was not enough to get anything out of it.
Silly mistakes in the back, a bit of uncertainty with that situation with Evans and Brendan not really getting the line-up correctly set up, and not in balance against a Newcastle team that got the points needed to play on in the Premier League next season.
- Positives
- A new goal for Kelechi Iheanacho
- Marc Albrighton scoring after being moved to the right
- Luke Thomas giving the team more balance when coming on
- Scoring two in the end, plastering a bit of the errors
- Kasper Schmeichel with a wonderful save early on
- Negatives:
- Sloppy defending and terrible errors in clinical situations
- Evans of course missing the game
- James Maddison not playing to his best, still a long way from top form
- Not able to keep momentum in a critical fase of the season
- Letting in four goals at home
- Playing to much side ways and not using the possession to score goals
- Rodgers misusing Marc Albrighton in a left side position
- Player Ratings: Schmeichel 6, Castagne 5, Soyuncu 3, Fofana 4, Albrighton 5, Tielemans 6, Ndidi 5, Iheanacho 6, Vardy 5, Maddison 3, Pereira 4 Subs: Perez, Thomas, Mendy
- Leicester City, Man of the Match
- Youri Tielemans
Match Stats (H/A):
- Possession: 68 / 32
- Corners: 9 / 6
- Shots on target: 9 / 6
- Fouls: 12 / 9
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