Leicester City triumphed over Manchester City to win the FA Community Shield for the first time since 1971.
Whilst some will say it’s a glorified friendly, it meant a lot to the the Foxes players as well as the fans, who made themselves heard over the Manchester City support. Despite the Citizens being under-strength, they still had a host of talent to call upon including £100m man Jack Grealish. Leicester City started strongly, pressing the Citizens high from the off.
In the first half, Leicester more than matched the Champions, having the better chances. After the break, Manchester City began to take a bit more control of the game, but it was LCFC who got the winner after Iheanacho was felled by Nathan Aké. Senior man duly dusted himself down before smashing his spot-kick into the top-right corner, sending the raucous Foxes fans into delirium.
Without further ado, here are the player ratings:
Leicester City player ratings
Kasper Schmeichel: He had little to do apart from a decent save from İlkay Gündoğan, with Man City rather toothless in attack. Distribution a mixed bag. 6/10
Ricardo Pereira: Got forward with purpose as an attacking outlet and looked back to his swashbuckling best. Defensively sound and tackled well except for the miscue that set Mahrez up for his chance. 8/10
Daniel Amartey: Man of the match. He seems to save his best performances for Manchester City! Strong in the air and the tackle, whilst standing up well against Manchester City’s various attacking threats. 8/10
Çağlar Söyüncü: A good display from the Turk by and large, showing ice-cold composure under pressure with the ball. Some of his other passes put his teammates into hot water. 7/10
Ryan Bertrand: Got forward well in the first half in support of Barnes whilst also attending his defensive duties. Booked for a necessary foul on Mahrez. 7/10
Youri Tielemans: Not at his best, although not bad by any means which says a lot about his usual standards. A couple of miskicks put Leicester in potentially perilous situations. 6/10
Wilfried Ndidi: Made a crucial defensive intervention when Mahrez was bearing down on goal and was fully involved in tackles and interceptions. Took too long on the ball at times. 7/10
Harvey Barnes: Positive and direct, causing problems for the Man City defence. His touch and decision making wasn’t always the sharpest. 7/10
James Maddison: Showed his quality on the ball to escape tight Man City pressure and was heavily involved in all good attacking moves throughout the first half. Faded in the second period. 7/10
Ayoze Pérez: Defensively good, pressing and tackling well. Poor going forward, with his crossing and final product found wanting. 5/10
Jamie Vardy: As always he was a nuisance for the Man City defence but struggled to get involved and missed a golden opportunity. Lacking confidence in front of goal. 5/10
Substitutes:
Patson Daka: Threatened with his frightening pace, whilst applying pressure to the Man City defence although he wasn’t heavily involved. 6/10
Marc Albrighton: Tried to pick out some difficult passes although they didn’t come off. 5/10
Boubakary Soumaré: Showed excellent strength and technique to hold off several Manchester City challenges and retain the ball. 6/10
Kelechi Iheanacho: His sharpness in pressing Aké helped win him a penalty. Stuck his penalty away powerfully. 7/10
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall: Not the controlling force we’ve been used to seeing of late as he struggled to get on the ball. 5/10
Luke Thomas: Solid defensively, winning several crucial headers at the back post to help maintain Leicester’s lead. 6/10
A word of praise for Daniel Amartey
Daniel Amartey has had his fair share of critics amongst Leicester City fans for both his on-pitch and off-pitch actions. Today he answered his doubters with an imperious defensive performance alongside Çağlar Söyüncü. Defensively he was dominant in the air and tackled well, whilst covering Söyüncü adeptly. He marked his men and pocketed to the various threats Man City threw at him, including the £100m Jack Grealish. On the ball, it was noticeable how he kept things very simple, but this worked fine due to Çağlar Söyüncü’s ball-playing ability.
Previously many Foxes fans didn’t trust Amartey, especially in a back four. I freely admit that I was one of them. Hopefully, this performance helps to calm the nerves of supporters and give confidence to Amartey in future competitive games.
Of course, it’s not worth getting carried away over one performance but this is certainly promising given LCFC’s well-known shortage of centre-backs. The Foxes still need one or two more quality reinforcements as cover, given the fact Wesley Fofana is out until 2022, but Amartey has shown he has the potential to step up competently.
Furthermore, for those who have FPL teams, Amartey seems like a player worth having in the squad. At just £4m, and with the potential to start games, the Ghanaian is a potential bargain option for the start of the season.