Steve Cooper gave us all a fantastic surprise, being able to field Jamie Vardy for this season opener, missing all games in pre-season since the first vs. Villareal. What a blessing in disguise as the 37 year old again played the main part. To see Jannik Vestergaard in there was the most important, as he is our best defender by miles, and we all today did see how he put Spurs forward Dominic Solanke to sleep, with great marking and positioning.
The early news from today regarding newly signed Oliver Skipp also gave a good signal. Bobby De Cordova-Reid and Facundo Buonanotte were the two new signings that made the starting eleven, also start to Victor Kristiansen, as he was back from his loan spell at Bologna last season.
Spurs put heavy pressure on Leicester from start, and in that situation we all just waited for the time to see the first goal for the opponent. Several good saves from Mads Hermansen kept Leicester in the game, as the team struggled. A few quality attempts from the new man in midfield, Bounanotte, and also brave hearts in defending. Despite the hard work from the Leicester team, Spurs scored the opening goal in the 29th minute from Pedro Porro.
Leicester tried and of course having Jamie Vardy out there as their captain makes a lot of positives, as we did see some progress towards the end of first half.
Spurs held their lead out first half, possibly believing they would be able to continue to dominate. Steve Cooper must have been clever with his talk, as Leicester came out a bit higher and managed to push Spurs backwards and take more and more control of the action.
Abdul Fatawu (20) is a young man, and he needs of course to get a few more PL games under his belt before he is fully adapted to the higher level, but what he did in the 57th minute was brilliant, finding Jamie Vardy with a well placed curled pass, and the man himself, put his head to the ball and just placed it well down at the left post. Leicester were even and pushed on for more.
Jamie Vardy came close again in the 70th minute, played lovely through with a special pass from Facundo Bounanotte, but the captain missed this open chance, shooting straight at the goalkeeper, who did a good save, and this was in real what happened of golden opportunities in the 2nd half.
Leicester made two substitutions in the 82 minute, bringing on Bouba Soumare and Stephy Mavididi, who just took over from Jamie Vardy and Facundo Bounanotte in the 79th minute. Leicester also made a third substitution bringing on Kasey McAteer for Bobby De Cordova-Reid in the 86th minute.
The game had 9 extra minutes as an injury to Rodrigo Bentancur, with circumstances and the type of injury happening, it became a long wiat. Spurs pushed on in the late minutes, but Leicester managed to defend themselves as Steve Cooper must be very pleased with what he did see 2nd half as well as having this iconic footballer up front, that again became the most important player for Leicester on the day.
A great draw, coming back from being 1-0 down, shows a strong mentality and hope for what comes next as Fulham away at Craven Cottage is the next hurdle.
- Positives
- Steve Cooper doing tactical work at a high level, making the team come out positive 2nd half
- Mads Hermansen again showing solid goalkeeper work
- Jannik Vestergaard played up to his best and kept Dominic Solanka quiet all day
- Jamie Vardy scoring on his return, should have scored the winner later on, but again a great start for the forward coming on the scoresheet
- Facundo Bounanotte showed what he is capable of and what to expect going forward
- The team spirit and how they managed to click in the 2nd half, promising
- Negatives
- First half was difficult, as players had too much respect early on
- Jamie Vardy not scoring two, with his massive miss from close range
Player Ratings: Hermansen 7, Justin 7, Vestergaard 8, Faes 7, Kristiansen 6, Ndidi 6, Winks 6, De Cordova-Reid 6, Vardy 7, Fatawu 7, Bounanotte 8, Subs: Mavididi, Soumare, McAteer
- Leicester City, Man of the Match
- Jannik Vestergaard
Match Stats (H/A)
- Possession: 29 / 71
- Shots on Target: 3 / 7
- Corners: 2 / 13
- Fouls: 11 / 12
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