Leicester City flourished after a week-long rest, dismantling manager-less Sheffield United, 5-0. I’m going to talk about the triangular front three, and the partnership between Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho.
The latter, Kelechi Iheanacho scored three of Leicester City’s five, in a sparkling performance from the Nigerian, with two of them being provided by his partner, Jamie Vardy. The final piece of the explosive triangle was Ayoze Pérez, after missing a month with a knee injury – he played as the number 10 in James Maddison’s absence.
Initially, the Foxes forced play into the front three by passing through the lines – with conviction and efficiency. At times this would bypass the midfield, as Sheffield United utilised a 5-3-2 formation with a compact midfield three. After finding joy in the early stages, The Blades narrowed their central-midfielders even more so, restricting the passes into Pérez.
This was a credit to the impact of the three in the beginning of the fixture, limiting their output was seen as the best alternative for Sheffield United, as congesting the midfield removed any impetus in their press. To adjust, Brendan Rodgers dropped the natural positioning of the double pivot – Wilfred Ndidi and Youri Tielemans, to receive the ball in deeper areas. This added a passing lane in depth, and also dragged the opposing midfield to press in an advanced space – out of their compact block. Once again, the ball into Pérez became available – and the Foxes reaped the rewards.
Prior to the game, had you asked Rodgers, “what’s the perfect goal you could score today?”, it would’ve been the opener. It started with Youri Tielemans – who’s becoming renowned for the “no look” pass – disguised a ball into Pérez, who had found space in a small pocket. The “base” of the triangle is the Spaniard, with Vardy to the top-left and Iheanacho to the top-right. After receiving possession, he found Vardy – occupying the left half-space after a clever piece of movement and his pass across goal gave Iheanacho the easiest of his three goals.
The goal – which came just prior to half-time – became the foundation for the Foxes to build on. It didn’t take long for Pérez to double the lead, it was an excellent counter-attack after Marc Albrighton (who replaced Ricardo Pereira at half-time) dispossessed Enda Stevens in transition. The Blades’ defenders tracked the attacking runs of Vardy and Iheanacho instead of pressing the advancing forward, and a long range strike – with the outside of his right-foot – found the bottom corner.
It was more of the same for the remainder of the game. Complimentary movements from all three forwards facilitated the attacks for Leicester City, and truly dumbfounded the poor Sheffield United defence. I don’t think Chris Wilder being in charge would’ve changed the result, but perhaps the manner – it felt as if the players had acclimatised to Championship level football next season and didn’t offer much of a revival once behind.
In my opinion, Kelechi Iheanacho and Wesley Fofana were the standout performers – from a Foxes side that probably scored eight out of ten’s across the board. The Nigerian’s hat-trick was completely deserved, and is a by-product of his sustained high performance level. You can tell he’s playing with confidence and was demanding possession in advanced areas, epitomised by his third goal – a 25-yard drilled effort into the bottom-right, I doubt he’d try a shot of this manner without the performance.
The young French defender was perennial for Leicester City, neutralising the few good moments for The Blades. He read the game effortlessly, dropping goal side of Jonny Evans on a few occasions to collect possession and truly dominated aerially. Whilst being composed defensively, Fofana was also tasked with being Leicester City’s “progressive” defender – i.e. the forward passer/carrier. An excellent performance in both sides of the game resulted in the Foxes earning a clean sheet.
It’s difficult to overlook the week-long break as being a contributor to the result. The Leicester City press looked energetic, the attacking third movement was vibrant, and the decision-making (mental fatigue) in all aspects of play was great. Fortunately, Rodgers is gifted another week’s rest ahead of the FA Cup tie against Manchester United – they’re not as lucky, a midweek game versus AC Milan (which is currently level – 1-1) will force Ole Gunnar Solksjær into rotating players and perhaps give the Foxes an edge in the game.