After a 6-2 defeat earlier this season, Leicester City got their revenge against Tottenham Hotspur today. Leicester defeated Spurs 4-1 at King Power Stadium. It was a brilliant performance by everyone on the pitch. They played strong the whole game, especially in the first half when they managed to score three goals.
The foxes almost ran the same lineup as they did against Aston Villa. Danny Ward was put in goal as the backline in front of him consisted of the pit bull; Victor Kristiansen, Wout Faes, Harry Souttar, and Timothy Castagne. James Maddison and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall remained in the midfield as they were joined by Nampalys Mendy this time instead of Youri Tielemans. Kelechi Iheanacho was the main man up front as Harvey Barnes and Tete joined him on the attack out on the wings.
Spurs made a significant change right away as Ben Forster started in between the sticks instead of the injured Hugo Lloris. Ben Davies, Eric Dier, and Japhet Tanganga were the defensive back line. Their midfield consisted of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur as Pedro Porro made his debut out wide as right mid. Ivan Perisic was the left midfielder. Son Heung-Min and Dejan Kulusevski were out wide as the star; Harry Kane was the sole striker up top.
The first half started off poor for LCFC. In the 12’ Tottenham crossed in a corner that Kristiansen cleared beautifully over the post. However, the second attempt did not go as well for the pit bull. Perisic crossed it in and the leftback tapped it right to Bentancur who slotted it in the back of the net.
This is when the foxes got hungry. Mendy scored his first-ever goal with Leicester City with an absolute worldie in the 22’. A failed corner attempt would have the ball bounce to Mendy who nailed it top right bins. Just two minutes later Spurs would lose the ball in the midfield. The ball would get passed to Iheanacho who passed the ball to Maddison inside the box. Maddison then drilled it past Foster to give Leicester a 2-1.
Then, when we thought the half was over, Souttar would pass a ball to Iheanacho. The in-form striker would take Dier on one on one and nail the shot past Foster. LCFC would end the half with a 3-1 lead.
The East Midlands team was all about possession in the second half. They kept moving the ball around smartly and wanted to make sure Tottenham would not get back into the game. Barnes scored a beautiful goal in the 69’ however, it was called back by VAR for the slimmest of margins.
However, Barnes got his revenge in the 81’ when he scored a goal almost identical to Iheanacho’s. He took on Dier one on one and slotted the goal into the bottom corner. Leicester would end up winning this game 4-1.
Leicester City Player Ratings
Ward 7: Ward looked brilliant today. His confidence is at an all-time high. The one goal he had no chance at saving. Besides that, he grabbed corners with zero effort and saved the couple of shot attempts that came at him.
Kristiansen 7: I wanted to give him an 8 but, I can’t after the corner goal he allowed. His first clearance was brilliant yet the second one went straight to the other team. Besides the blunder, he was brilliant. He had Kulusevski in his pocket the whole game. He kept doing overlap runs and helped make out attack better. The pit bull was fantastic on both ends of the pitch.
Souttar 8: This man is a tank. Kane and Son could not get the ball past him and they’re some of the best in the league. Not bad for someone who was just playing in the Championship. His assist to Iheanacho at the end of the first half was beautiful. The pairing of Souttar & Faes will be a problem for the rest of the Premier League.
Faes 8: He is so fun to watch. Always so aggressive and yet he always wins the ball. He gives his all defensively and offensively. He was putting in great through balls throughout the game. Like Souttar, he pocketed Kane and Son the whole game. What a performance by these two beauties.
Castagne 7: Almost had the worst own goal to ever happen. Luckily that did not happen. He was good throughout the game.
Mendy 9: WOW! What a performance. Firstly, his goal was a stunner. That was a Tielemans-type of goal it was so nasty. Besides that beauty, he was impeccable on defense. He was all over the pitch making slide tackles. He earned consistent playing time after his performance today.
Maddison 8: Another game, another goal for Maddison. Easily the best English attacking midfielder in the league. He was crafty with his shots today and his passes were always on point. Madders is an elite player.
KDH 6: Today was not KDH’s most standout performance. Sloppy passes to start off the game and was in foul trouble the whole game. He will make up for this performance, he always does.
Tete 6: Sadly he was non-existent today.
Barnes 9: Should have had two goals today. Too bad VAR sucks. His shooting was fantastic and his crosses were beautiful to watch. He was even tracking back! Where has that been this whole season? Arguably Barnes’s best game of the season.
Iheanacho 9: It is now Iheanacho’s time to shine and Brendan Rodgers can’t deny him anymore. Should have been back-to-back one-goal two assists games but like I just said, VAR sucks. The team moves differently when Iheanacho is on the pitch. He can score and move the ball. Outside of Kane, the Nigeria hitman is the best false nine in the league in my opinion.
Subs: N/A
Refs 0: They were awful today.