There are a number of different emotions that must be bursting through each Leicester City fan this evening, after Dean Smith secured his first three-point haul in his maiden King Power Stadium bow. Pride in the performance, relief at the result, and bemusement at leaving a match with a smile on their face to name just three.
City took on Wolverhampton Wanderers on the back of a horrific run of form, knowing that nothing but a win would suffice in their fight for survival, and achieved it through a Kelechi Iheanacho penalty and a Timothy Castagne strike. The visitors had taken the lead early on through Matheus Cunha, killing any momentum the Foxes had built up from their start.
Next up in this mega week is a trip to Elland Road to face Leeds United, ahead of the visit of Everton the following Monday, a repeat result in those encounters would push City up on to 34 points. Before we focus on those fixtures, here at Foxes of Leicester we’re issuing our player ratings after today’s colossal result.
Daniel Iversen – 7
Hearts were in City fans’ mouths late on as Ruben Neves, fresh from a two-game suspension and with a point to prove, wound up a free-kick with the game poised at 2-1. The Portuguese took aim, but Iversen was a match for it, impressively sticking to his chosen side (where Neves aimed), avoiding taking that fateful step that ‘keepers so often do that affects their weight and momentum. There was little he could do to prevent Wolves’ opening goal.
Timothy Castagne – 8
Castagne performed admirably at right-back providing an out-ball for his fellow defenders and helping to progress the ball up the field, and his low, left-footed drive into the bottom corner 15 minutes from time was the ultimate decider. At times under Brendan Rodgers, it looked like he, one of the most reliable and professional members of the playing staff was waning, but there’s every chance that Dean Smith has instilled some confidence and belief into the Belgian.
Caglar Soyuncu – 8
The man most positively-impacted by the change in manager appears to be Caglar Soyuncu, who put in a Man of the Match performance to silence his critics. The Turkish international was a colossus in leaping up to win headers while remaining composed in possession to restart attacks.
The Turkish international brought exhibited aggression, hunger and passion, and reminded Foxes fans of what he could do on the ball as well as his relatively-reliable long-passing range.
Wout Faes – 7
Alongside Soyuncu and partnering him for the first time in a back four, Wout Faes put in a solid if unspectacular shift, helping the back-four unit to perform more competently than has been expected in recent weeks. Getting stuck in is his game, and Faes exhibited this by winning his fair share of duels while also showcasing his ability to jink in and out to find himself some valuable space to progress attacks.
Victor Kristiansen – 7
After a shaky start to his Foxes career, today’s performance from Victor Kristiansen was more encouraging, if even there were still some silly mistakes that one might expect from a player with his lack or experience. The introduction of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was key in providing the Dane with more space to operate in an attacking sense, and his improvement in performance was capped off with a sublime assist, cutting the ball back to the edge of the box for Castagne to finish.
Youri Tielemans – 5
Tielemans’ quicker-than-expected return was a key factor in reigniting hopes for some Foxes fans that their side might preserve their Premier League status. If Leicester City are to do so, their self-declared Star Man will need to put in a better shift than he did today.
The Belgian was comfortably City’s worst performer, and his lapse in concentration allowed his pocket to be picked and Cunha to drive home for the visitors’ goal. This carried on throughout until he was hooked in the second half.
Boubakary Soumare – 7
For 45 minutes, it looked as though Dean Smith’s brave call to side with Soumare ahead of Wilfred Ndidi and Nampalys Mendy was not paying off. The Frenchman was sluggish and passive, showing little sign of ridding himself of the habits he picked up under Rodgers’ tenure.
To his credit, Soumare stepped up towards the game’s latter stages, and showcased how powerful he can be when he burst forward with the ball to set up Kelechi Iheanacho who inexplicably elected not to shoot. A crisp one-two with Patson Daka allowed Soumare to release Kristiansen to square for Castagne’s winner.
Tete – 7
Another player for whom the output can be simply described as ‘much better’, Tete started to look like the exciting player he had shown flashes of becoming in the early stages of his City career. Speed, craft, agility and dynamism, were all on show as that spark we saw so early appeared to be returning.
While not directly involved in either goal, the promise in his performance is certainly back.
Kelechi Iheanacho – 8
One thing Kelechi Iheanacho has always been good at has been receiving the ball in space and exploiting it until the cows come home. The Nigerian was excellent when picking up between the lines, with supporting runs from Tete and Patson Daka helping to maximise that space.
His neat through ball set Jamie Vardy away, who duly rounded Jose Sa before being hauled down in the area. With Leicester City’s No.9 on the deck and receiving treatment, Iheanacho consummately deal with with the spot-kick to equalise.
Jamie Vardy – 7
A criticism levelled at the 2023 iteration of Jamie Vardy has been that matches have simply passed him by without his involvement being felt too keenly. This was still the case in some parts today but there was a sense that his movement in build-up was more conducive to the whole-team approach.
His well-timed run helped to open up and evade the Wolves back line and he used his experience to win a penalty that a younger forward may not have utilised. Vardy was substituted at half time.
Patson Daka – 6
For a man playing out of position on the left flank, Patson Daka did all that could be expected of him. The Zambian struggled out there but still used his physicality to roll his full-back on the odd occasion to drive into space.
He did get caught short a couple of times to cede a petty foul, but his work rate and determination can not be criticised.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – 7
Dewsbury-Hall is a curious case, in that there are a lot of individual unforced errors, but the style with which he plays is so important to the team effort. His half-time introduction saw this theory vindicated.
The midfielder’s introduction frightened Wolves into retreating, and gave City more attacking thrust on the left-hand side, but he blazed over with the scores tied and continued to make silly mistakes such as misplaced passes.
Wilfred Ndidi – 6
Ndidi was introduced late on for the underwhelming Tielemans, and did an ample job in keeping the midfield tight. The Nigerian did manage to squander half of his attempted passes, but made a few important clearances with the match in the balance.
Dennis Praet – 6
Dennis Praet was being briefed as the eventual winner was scored, and Smith elected to continue with the substitution, in place of Tete thereafter.
There wasn’t much to the Belgian’s appearance in his fourteen minutes other than a few neat touches and passes.
Nampalys Mendy – N/A
Entered the fray at minute 85 and therefore did not have time to make a lasting impact.