Brendan Rodgers gave all his three new signings the trust to start this difficult away game against Aston Villa. To go to Villa Park at this time was one difficult act, but today we did see Leicester at their best and this was a big step in the right direction.
We had just found our seats, either at the stadium, in the pub or in the sofa at home, Leicester had a new team out there and we were all very excited, but it started far from fantastic with Ollie Watkins finding the net for Aston Villa after just 9 minutes.
Leicester were 1-0 down and we were back in that negative situation, but World Cup winner Emiliano Martinez decided to hand Leicester a goal doing a massive error being chased by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall who managed nick the ball, and an unselfish attitude made him pass to James Maddison who couldn’t miss, 1-1 and just 12 minutes into the game.
Leicester were equal but more errors would occure later on in the first half. Debutant Harry Souttar was very unlucky with a deflection of the ball and it passed an outplayed Danny Ward, who had no real chance to save, but he could have done better on the first goal, one that we believe would never have passed Daniel Iversen, who is and longer and have a better range.
But again this team showed hard work, a lot power and actually fun to watch as they had an attitude that we certainly haven’t seen that much this season, and Kelechi Iheanacho made a fantastic run into box being found by Harvey Barnes with a perfect curle, and after 41 minutes Leicester were equal again.
Leicester had no desire to stop and a massive run and dribble from Tetê made the perfect debut for the new Brazilian, coming in on a short term contract and scoring in his first match. A thrill to watch this wizard as his footwark and movement reminds us of one special Riyad Mahrez, as he showed fantastic skills on the right flank.
Coming out 2nd half with a 3-2 lead was of course fantastic and it looked very controlled as the team equaled Aston Villa in most areas and kept them on distance. In the 67th minute it was time to ring the changes for Brendan Rodgers and he got it absolutely correct, replacing Kelechi Iheanacno with Jamie Vardy, Dennis Praet with James Maddison and Papy Mendy coming on for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
We all did see the match picture as Leicester defended and in the 79th minute everything was put to bed by Dennis Praet who picked the ball and pushed forward, passed the goalkeeper and showed his skills as the ball found the net, Leicester were 4-2 up and again fantastic to watch this after a difficult period.
Luke Thomas and Caglar Soyuncu came on towards the end, replacing Victor Kristiansen and Tetê. Thomas and Soyuncu did what they were supposed to and Leicester could go home with three fantastic points.
Currently 13th in the table, but just 3 above the relegation zone, and the job is just to carry on and hopefully secure their position in and around this position as the top 10 looks far away at this point, but hopefully the form will be there to catch points going forward.
Next up is Tottenham at home on the 11th of February, and after that going to play Man Utd away at Old Trafford, hopefully again being competitive in both games, great fixtures to look forward to.
- Positives
- All the three new signings doing well and being part of a win in their first game
- Kelechi Iheanacho showing his goal scoring act, he should start going forward
- Brendan Rodgers did a fantastic job today, balancing everything perfect
- Scoring four goals away is massive and shows the qualities in this squad
- James Maddison back in goalscoring form and hopefully being fresh and ready for the next games
- Negatives
- Tielemans and Castagne getting yellow cards
- Danny Ward is not a goalkeeper of great PL standard
- Letting in two goals and at times losing momentum
Player Ratings: Ward 6, Castagne 6, Souttar 6, Faes 6, Kristiansen 7, Tielemans 6, Dewsbury-Hall 6, Barnes 7, Iheanacho 7, Tetê 8, Maddison 7 Subs: Praet, Mendy, Vardy, Soyuncu, Thomas
- Leicester City, Man of the Match
- Tetê
Match Stats (H/A)
- Possession: 63 / 37
- Corners: 11 / 3
- Shots on target: 4 / 5
- Fouls: 10 / 10
TCF - FILBERT WAY 
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