When Leicester City went behind to an Ollie Watkins goal within ten minutes at Villa Park last week, the outlook on the Foxes season was beginning to look bleak. With no win since the return from the World Cup and fixtures against Tottenham, Manchester United and Arsenal coming up, City faced the realistic prospect of going nine games without a victory.
Fast-forward nearly 180 minutes of football, and Brendan Rodgers’ have six points from six available, scoring eight goals in the process after brushing aside quality opposition in both Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur. In the space of a week, Rodgers has outclassed top managers Unai Emery and Antonio Conte, cementing his credentials as the man capable of leading the club’s charge back towards the European positions. Here at Foxes of Leicester, we’ve identified three players who impressed in City’s defeat of Tottenham.
Nampalys Mendy of Leicester City
Arguably the only Leicester player who came back from the World Cup in a better position than when it started, Nampalys Mendy has climbed ahead of Wilfred Ndidi in the Foxes pecking order in midfield. The Senegalese has proven his worth in not only winning the ball back, but providing a stronger link between midfield and attack by being trusted, mostly, to retain possession and progress the ball up field.
Mendy put in a solid performance yesterday, achieving over 90% passing accuracy and winning the vast majority of his tackles and duels. The No. 24 posted on social media that he was ‘Happy Papy’, not least because he finally netted his first Foxes goal in his 109th game, spending over six-and-a-half years at the King Power.
It wasn’t just any old tap-in, either, as the 30-year-old rifled a rocket into the roof of the net after the ball was nodded back towards him near the edge of the box following a corner. Aside from his stunning goal, Mendy was one of the game’s best players and a key part in the victory being so emphatic.
Kelechi Iheanacho
It’s too early to be making firm conclusions, especially with strong recency bias given two great wins, but in Kelechi Iheanacho‘s return to the starting line-up, Leicester might just have solved their striker problem. It’s often been said this year that City need the perfect blend of their two starting forwards, with a mixture of Patson Daka’s excellent movement and Jamie Vardy’s ruthless finishing streak.
Iheanacho isn’t quite that, but instead, he’s a supremely intelligent footballer with a technical prowess capable of embarrassing any defender, no matter their stature within the game. The Spurs back three was essentially a shambles from minute one, and it was clear they were quaking in their boots when Iheanacho was around them.
It’s now two goals and three assists in just 144 minutes of Premier League action for the No. 14, who was picking the ball up and finding space at will. The highlight was absolutely his goal, City’s third, where he toyed with Eric Dier, effectively sitting the England international down by putting his foot on the ball and using the hapless centre-half as a marker to guide the ball around and into Fraser Forster’s bottom corner.
James Maddison
It’s difficult to quantify, but James Maddison’s return to full fitness after 10 weeks on the sidelines has had an incredible and galvanising impact on the King Power club. With Youri Tielemans missing out due to failing a late fitness test, the Foxes other star man took on the captain’s armband, and without doubt led by example.
Brendan Rodgers got his system spot on, with Harvey Barnes and Tete staying wide and stretching the pitch, with Iheanacho dragging Spurs men all over the place. This had the desired effect and gave Maddison plenty of space to operate.
Operate he did, working his magic by both turning in tight spaces and driving forward when afforded the opportunity. Maddison’s cool finish helped turn the game on his head just two minutes after Mendy’s equaliser, and his ability to manouvere and manipulate space allowed Harvey Barnes to seal the win with a curling shot from 20 yards out.