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Leicester were up against Fleetwood at home in the 2nd round of the Carabao Cup, and of course favorites, but we all knew that Claude Puel would do changes to his starting line up.

Nice to see Christian Fuchs in the team, a good player and a great person, and to see him scoring after only 8 minutes and starting brilliantly in his first game of the season. Wes Morgan was partnered by Jonny Evans in the central defence, with Daniel Amartey playing at right back.

Maguire and Pereira were both rested, so was Ndidi and Mendy, with Iborra and Silva playing in the central midfield positions. Ghezzal was given his first start and out on the other flank it was again a place for Marc Albrighton, and with Okazaki partnering Iheanacho up front.

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Ward was given a chance to play, with Jakupovic filling the cover role when Kasper Schmeichel was having a rest. Before the first half was over, Leicester had scored another goal this time from Vicente Iborra.

Fleetwood never became a treath and just after the start of second half it was again time for a goal, with Kelechi Iheanacho converting. Iheanacho was taken off just minutes after giving Demarai Gray a few minutes.

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Leicester controlled everything and the new man from Monaco, Rachid Ghezzal scored with a nice shot, reminding people of Riyad Mahrez, both players are Algeria internationals and maybe Ghezzal can get close to Mahrez in performance, then City fans will be satisfied.

Diabate replaced Ghezzal after 77 minutes and Filip Benkovic was also given his first team debut by Claude Puel, coming in for Wes Morgan after 62 minutes. According to reports from the ground, this was a very solid performance and they player given the chance really grabbed it.

Mendy, Knight, Maddison and Jakupovic were the unused subs. Puel who reached the final of this cup in the 2016-17 season is eager to get good results and his way of fielding the team against Fleetwood shows his ambition.

• Positvies:
  • Winning at home convincingly, well balanced line-up
  • Amartey getting a real chance to show his worth, Puel must be a great believer
  • Wes Morgan leads with example, important move to keep him in the team
  • Albrighton again showed his worth, great pass to Iheanacho on his goal
  • Fuchs, what a goal, and also assisting on Iborra’s goal
  • Ghezzal with a great goal, nice performance in his starting debut
  • Iheanacho as a single forward gets on the score sheet
• Negatives:
  • Iborra getting a yellow card
  • King and Simpson not even named on the bench

Player Ratings: Ward 6. Amartey 6, Fuchs 7, Morgan 6, Evans 6, Iborra 7, Silva 7, Albrighton 7, Ghezzal 8, Okazaki 6, Iheanacho 6, Subs: Gray, Benkovic, Diabate

Match Stats: H/A

• Possession: 72 / 28
• Corners: 9 / 2
• Shots on target: 7 / 1
• Shots wide: 3 / 1
• Fouls: 7 / 10
• Offsides: 2 / 2

 

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Another day with football, another strange switch from Puel, not surprised to see Wes Morgan in the team but to see Daniel Amartey in the line up was a real surprise. Again leaving out Marc Albrighton was a mistake, but in the end everything ended in perfection.

Southampton were the better team from start and especially Nathan Redmond had a game of good performance, making it difficult for Amartey, who just can’t cope with that type of opponents, sorry but today Amartey showed that he is not up to playing right back in the Premier League.

Kasper Schmeichel and Harry Maguire both played well and especially in the first half the two must be given great credit to both for keeping Leicester in the game. Kelechi Iheanacho was the only player to have something called a chance, but he didn’t reach the ball and the first half ended 0-0, Leicester must be most satisfied with that.

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Southampton came out and dominated the first minutes of the 2nd and after 52 minutes, after a number of problems for the Leicester City defenders to get the ball cleared, it ended in the feets of Ryan Bertrand, who scored a great goal from a shot outside the penalty post. Kasper Schmeichel had no chance to save.

Leicester got a bit of momentum after this and when Demarai Gray, only four minutes later, gets a ball from the Southampton defense, he is clever enough to get the shot down and on the grass and City are suddenly level, 1-1. Gray had scored for the first time in 29 games.

The game gets a bit dull again, but we must count the chance of Ben Chilwell, who came close and a couple of more chances. Then in the 77th minute everyone including referee Jon Moss can see Højbjerg diving, getting his 2nd yellow and of course red.

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Leicester was now 11 against 10, but instead of putting great pressure on Southampton the game fades out and everyone settles for a draw, but then suddenly in the last minute of the overtime, Harry Maguire turns up.

Maguire, strangely out wide left, makes a move in and towards the penalty box, but he decides to shoot from just outside the penalty area, and what a shot, with great perfection and this is too much for Alex McCarthy, who sees the ball going in behind him. Leicester City are suddenly 2-1 up with no minutes left.

We had easy accepted a 1-1 result, but to grab all three at St. Mary’s is not easy, and without a bit of pressure, it is also those results that really are a bonus. A 2-1 win and just one point behind Manchester City, satisfiction.

• Positvies:
  • Winning away for the first time since Brighton away in March last season
  • Scoring and winning in a difficult away fixture
  • Wes Morgan showed that his pace is good enough for Premier League
  • Winning the game away on a not perfect day
  • Gray and Maguire scoring, both needed that
• Negatives:
  • Puel misses vital passes and lots of creativity when dropping Albrighton
  • Playing Pereira on the flank, he is a right back, please Puel understand
  • Maguire taking of his shirt, getting a yellow, no need to do that, strange
  • Amartey, not a Premier League player in the right back position

Player Ratings: Schmeichel 8. Amartey 4, Chilwell 7, Morgan 7, Maguire 8, Mendy 6, Ndidi 6, Pereira 6, Gray 7, Maddison 6, Iehanacho 4, Subs: Albrighton, Ghezzal, Okazaki

Match Stats: H/A

• Possession: 55 / 45
• Corners: 10 / 3
• Shots on target: 4 / 3
• Shots wide: 3 / 1
• Fouls: 12 / 11
• Offsides: 1 / 0