Roma 1-0 Leicester: 3 Things FoL learned from Rome

Leicester City went crashing out of the Europa Conference League at the Stadio Olympico Thursday evening, thanks to a thunderous header by Tammy Abraham in the 7th minute of the tie.

The Foxes’ first European semi-final might have left some fans with a sour taste in their mouth, after we went out of the competition with little more than a whimper. After the early goal scored by the Englishman, the home side – which is predictable of any Jose Mourinho side – sat in and were content to defend their lead.

Despite large amounts of possession, the East Midlands outfit struggled to create any clear-cut opportunities resorting to shots from distance and balls into a crowded box which were dealt with comfortably by Roma centre halves. LCFC’s night was summed up perfectly with the last shot which could have potentially send it into extra-time. Fans saw another James Maddison free kick fail to beat the first man and the home side easily saw out the rest of the game.

Leicester City desperately need a set-piece coach

It is no secret to Leicester fans or even football fans at this point that the Foxes are massively vulnerable from set-pieces. Whether it be from a corner or free-kick it doesn’t seem to matter. The head-scratching decision to assign five-foot-nine Ricardo Pereira to mark the Yellows and Reds’ record-breaking top goal-scorer and six-foot-five Abraham on corners is a case in point of another poor strategy when defending corners this campaign. A strategic blunder that essentially knocked City out of the Europa Conference League.

Defensive corner tactics have cost Brendan Rodgers’ side dearly throughout the season not only in dropping points, but also completely killing the momentum during games, which is exactly what happened in tonight’s game. LCFC’s bright start came to a screeching halt due to this poor defensive strategy.

Leicester City need to take a leaf out of Arsenal’s playbook many Gunners fans will make the argument that the signing of Nicolas Jover their set-piece coach has been their signing of the season. The North London side have yet to concede form a single corner this campaign, whereas the Foxes, on the other hand, suffered their 17th tonight.