Leicester City kicked off their 2020/21 Europa league campaign tonight with a convincing win over Zorya Luhansk. Here’s how the players performed.
Leicester City bounced back from successive defeats in the league last night with a 3-0 win over Ukrainian Premier League outfit FC Zorya Luhansk, thanks to goals from James Maddison, Harvey Barnes and Kelechi Iheanacho.
Zorya coach Viktor Skrypnyk was determined not to let his side’s underdog status prevent them from playing their best football yesterday, and this definitely shone through in the first 25 minutes or so. A low ball into Vladyslav Kabaev from the right wing forced Kasper Schmeichel into an excellent save early on, with the Foxes fortunate not to go behind. Less than ten minutes later, a curling effort from Harvey Barnes collided with the post and was eventually bundled in by James Maddison to give Leicester City a fortuitous lead.
From here, the Muzhyky’s early confidence soon dissipated and the East Midlanders began to run rampant in their home ground. On the stroke of half time, a stunning backheel courtesy of Kelechi Iheanacho put Harvey Barnes one on one, with the recent England debutant finishing confidently with an audacious chip over Mykyta Shevchenko. Into the second half, a loose pass from Denys Favorov in the 67th minute gifted the ball to Iheanacho, and the Nigerian made no mistake as he slammed the ball home into the bottom left corner.
Next up, player ratings
Goalkeeper, defence and midfield
Kasper Schmeichel- 6
Made an excellent save early on to deny Kabaev, but almost undid his efforts soon after with a calamitous bit of distribution that very nearly resulted in a goal for the visitors. Barely troubled in the second half.
Timothy Castagne- 7
Quieter than usual and wasn’t such a menace down the right hand side yesterday, but played his part in earning a well-deserved clean sheet for a strong and dependable back four.
Wesley Fofana- 8
A man playing far beyond his years. Watching him out there last night, it’s hard to believe a teenager is capable of putting in such a performance on the European stage. Rock-solid at the back and very nearly got himself a goal in the second half.
Jonny Evans- 8
The perfect defensive partner to the young Frenchman. Read the game superbly well and left no scraps for Zorya’s front two to pick up on. Get this man a new contract ASAP.
Christian Fuchs- 7
Despite his rapidly diminishing game time in the last few seasons, the veteran defender always seems to be solid when called upon, with tonight no exception.
Youri Tielemans- 7
Unlike usual, Tielemans didn’t seem to be tasked with splitting the opposition’s backline with perfectly weighted through balls, but instead simply giving the ball to Iheanacho to build the play from deep. Nonetheless, performed his job well if unspectacularly.
Papy Mendy- 8
That we hardly heard a peep out of Zorya’s front two is testament to this man’s quality. His work rate was phenomenal, covering the space between the defence and midfield well while providing effective outlet passes to Iheanacho and Barnes.
Dennis Praet- 7
Seemed to be playing in a more advanced role than usual, and was surprisingly good in doing so. Consistently found pockets of space around the edge of the visitors’ box and on the right wing, while frequently tracking back to contribute in the defence.
James Maddison- 8
Seemed to interchange with Praet on the right hand side of the pitch and scored the crucial opening goal of this game, even if it was fortunate. Looked sharp yesterday, hopefully approaching full fitness soon.
Attack and substitutes
Kelechi Iheanacho- 9
When Iheanacho plays, it’s hardly a surprise that the players around him seem to find the back of the net more often. The Nigerian was excellent last night, consistently dropping deep to draw players out and create space for Barnes in behind, before bagging himself a tidy goal thanks to some quick thinking. With a goal and two assists, he could consider himself hard done by not to be MOTM.
Harvey Barnes- 9
After a few lacklustre performances so far this season, it’s good to see Harvey Barnes performing to the standard that we know he can. The academy graduate linked up beautifully with Iheanacho in a free role down the left hand side and was a constant threat in behind Zorya’s defence. Showed real composure in the finish for his goal, too. More of these two together please.
Cengiz Ünder- 6
Came on with a decent amount of time left in the game, but seemed to be on a different page to the other Leicester City players at time. Set pieces have potential, but it looks to me like this man needs a little longer to settle in.
Hamza Choudhury- 6
Replaced Tielemans and worked hard defensively to ensure the Foxes retained their clean sheet.
Ayoze Pérez- 6
Didn’t really have the same impact as Iheanacho after being substituted on for him, but didn’t really get long enough to affect the game. Will hopefully get a chance to play centrally soon.
Wes Morgan- 6
Much like Fuchs, a veteran defender who performed well when called upon. Always good to see the captain play.
James Justin- 6
Came on for Castagne, who in all fairness looked knackered after playing so often recently. Did his part to preserve Leicester City’s clean sheet.