It’s been a fairly underwhelming start to the 2021/22 season for Leicester City, prior to the game versus Manchester United they sat in the bottom half of the Premier League table and bottom of their UEFA Europa League group.
But, after a research-driven international break, Brendan Rodgers has kickstarted the campaign with four goals in back-to-back games. This article will be addressing the four goals in the game against Spartak Moscow, and how the Foxes achieved this feat.
Truth be told, as the first-half drew to a close, the Russian outfit looked set to got into the break with a comfortable two-goal cushion. An unfortunate deflection bypassed Kasper Schmeichel, and the indecisive, repetitive deep possession (something the Leicester faithful have become increasingly frustrated with) was easily pressed into a mistake for a calm finish from Jordan Larsson.
In as quick fashion as Jamie Vardy’s goal against Manchester United — which reinstated the Foxes lead, Patson Daka halved the deficit on the stroke of half-time. A quick, vertical progression through the centre of the pitch, an area Leicester City had struggled to penetrate all half, found Kelechi Iheanacho before making a smart pass into Daka. The chance was dispatched confidently by the Zambian-international, despite the best efforts of Aleksandr Maksimenko (the Moscow ‘keeper).
The lack of central progression forced the Foxes chance creation into the wings, although this was dependant on the individual battles of both Luke Thomas and Ricardo Pereira. For the majority of the first-half, Spartak won these battles and for a multitude of reasons. The most damning was the lack of runners supporting the two wing-backs, who inside the 3-5-2/5-3-2 formation that Brendan Rodgers opted for, where the most advanced players in width.
However, the first opportunity for Thomas to make a progressive pass towards the left channel was early in the second-half, when Kelechi Iheanacho had gotten goal-side of his marker and was making a diagonal run into the left half-space. This perfectly weighted pass sucked the defender into attempting an interception, before Daka — the man of the evening — made a smart burst into the centre of the box to receive a cutback and finish for his second of the game.
There was a sense of repeatability with the third and fourth goals, Daka making blindside runs on the defenders before activating his acceleration to receive a through ball and score in a one-on-one setting with the goalkeeper. However, the third goals deserves a lot of credit for James Maddison — and perhaps the system that Rodgers decided for the fixture.
Against United, LCFC played a 3-4-1-2 with Maddison as the “1” — a number 10 roaming between the lines. Whereas, in Russia, Rodgers decided upon a 3-5-2, with the main shift being Maddison dropping into the left central-midfield position. In the passage of play for the third goal, Maddison is in possession deep in the Foxes half (aided by his position) and plays a perfect pass between the lines — and two Spartak pressers — to find Youri Tielemans. Having flexibility between the two aforementioned midfielders allows Leicester City to be reactive to situations such as the goal.
Upon receiving, Tielemans carries and chooses to pass at the last possible moment — and after a decoy run from Iheanacho, to find Daka free and in the one-on-one with the ‘keeper. The initial pass from Maddison is the key facilitator in the attack even establishing and although he doesn’t receive an assist for the goal, will be accredited with a goal-creating action (GCA).
The four goals are different to those scored against United. Two set-piece goals and two exquisite finishes from cutbacks in width provided Leicester with three points at the King Power Stadium in the Premier League, whereas decisive runs through the centre of the pitch by the forwards (and a lower quality side defensively) enabled the Foxes to win their first in the UEFA Europa League this season.