Leicester City were looking to claim their first win since the start of February after four straight defeats in the Premier League. The Foxes were hoping to restart a good run of form against Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium and push themselves up to 12th.
The King Power outfit hadn’t lost a game against Brentford since March 1958 and Brentford were unbeaten at home, in the Premier League, since October. The pressure was on for both sides. A win for Brentford would help to hold their place in 8th and level on 42 points with Liverpool and Brighton. Leicester are now a point above the relegation zone.
Brendan Rodgers made five changes to his City side that lost 3-1 to Chelsea in the Premier League last weekend. Danny Ward only made the bench as Daniel Iversen was given his first start in the Premier League, Ndidi came in for Mendy, Tete replaced Iheanacho, Barnes returned to the wing and Wout Faes was suspended following a second yellow card against Chelsea.
Leicester City got off to a slow start and Brentford were the side on top. The Bees boosted their confidence with a goal for Mathias Jenson coming in the 32nd minute, following poor defending from City. In the second-half, Leicester started to grow into the game and it wasn’t long before they found an equaliser. A lovely link-up between Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and James Maddison allowed the number ten to slice a pass through the Brentford defence to Harvey Barnes which allowed him to slot the ball past David Raya. This gave LCFC some desperately needed confidence and they had chance after chance but, it wasn’t to be. The match finished 1-1 in London.
Leicester City goalkeeper and defenders
Daniel Iversen: 6 – punched ball away easily in first five minutes, launched the ball out of play from a goal-kick, didn’t have a lot to do in the first half. Was beaten at his near post for the goal, he tried to get his legs out to stop it but, didn’t make it, not entirely his fault as the defending was really poor leading up to the goal.
Ricardo Pereira: 7 – cleared the ball with a diving header, intercepted the ball, supplied Tete and midfield with passes, made some nice blocks.
Harry Souttar: 8 – dealt well with Ivan Toney, played well with the ball at his feet, played a few cross-field balls to Barnes, won every header against Toney, chased down, made some awesome tackles and brilliant defending. Showed a lot of fight and it was his best performance so far.
Daniel Amartey: 7 – won battle against Ivan Toney within the first five minutes, gave the ball away to Ben Mee, made a superb challenge, headed ball away at the far post during a Brentford corner, struggled to clear the ball,
Timothy Castagne: 7 – made a goal-saving challenge to stop the ball finding Rico Henry at the far post, intercepted the ball well, brave going into tackles.
Midfielders and striker
Wilfred Ndidi: 7 – had a really good game, won the ball on the halfway line, took a heavy touch and lost the ball in a good position (18 yards out in front of the Brentford goal), gave the ball away a couple of times, made a good header to Dewsbury-Hall.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall: 7 – gave the ball away which allowed Brentford to sprint down the line, played a beautiful ball to Maddison in the lead up to Barnes’ goal. Showed a lot of fight and got to grips with the game.
James Maddison: 6 – he had a quiet game in the first half and didn’t look himself, lost the ball a couple of times and made a few poor passes, got a yellow card for an unnecessary shirt pull, played a lovely pass into Barnes to slice open Brentford’s defence and set him up for the goal.
Tete: 4 – didn’t get back to do defensive duties, allowed Bryan Mbeumo a shot on the Leicester goal which he fired over the crossbar.
Patson Daka: 5 – couldn’t get enough on the ball with his header towards goal in the 16th minute, poor touch from Ethan Pinnock allowed him a second chance in front of goal but, his shot went over the bar from six yards out in the 24th minute.
Harvey Barnes: 8 – lost ball when going forward a few times, made some good runs down the wing, had a few good chances in the Brentford box before his goal. Calmly slotted the ball past David Raya for the goal, beautiful link-up with Maddison and Dewsbury-Hall. Made a lovely back foot turn to set Tete away on the wing. Crossed a lovely ball into the box that was curling towards the back post but Raya managed to get to it. Had a really good game but, needs to be more consistent from game to game.
Substitutions
Jamie Vardy: 4 – didn’t make an impact in the game, made a dodgy touch on the ball in Brentford’s half, lost a lot of confident, needs a goal – hasn’t scored since October against Wolves.
Dennis Praet: 4 – didn’t heavily impact the game after coming on.
Boubakary Soumare: 4 – another player who didn’t make a big affect on the game, received a yellow card and gave away a free-kick to Brentford.
Kelechi Iheanacho: N/A – didn’t play for long enough to give a rating.