Leicester 1-0 Sunderland: 3 positives and 3 negatives
Leicester City’s rampage through the Championship continued last night as Enzo Maresca’s side beat Sunderland 1-0 in a cagey affair. James Justin was the game’s only scorer as he leapt highest to head home early in the first half, but had Leicester converted one of their numerous chances, it could have been a much more comfortable night. The Foxes extended their lead to Ipswich to eight points but the Tractorboys still have two games in hand on the league leaders.
Here are three positives and negatives from Leicester City’s win!
Positives
A goal from a set piece
LCFC’s record from set pieces, both offensively and defensively, has made for grim reading over the past few seasons, with corners and free-kicks proving to be a weakness. But on Tuesday night Justin, of all people, broke that hoodoo as he nodded in from a corner.
Amid all the slick football and quick incisive passes, scoring from a set piece will come as a great relief for City fans as our set piece woes had become a laughing stock. Maresca will be hoping the floodgates will now open and corner goals will fly in.
Leicester win ugly
Leicester were not at their best last night and Sunderland had a big part to play in that. Tony Mowbray’s side came to the King Power Stadium to play their football and be aggressive in their press. There was a real bite to the game with some big tackles flying in and the referee made some questionable decisions in favour of both sides.
The Foxes also spurned multiple opportunities throughout the evening, as they hit the post twice and Cesare Casadei missed a hat-trick of volleys. But despite all this, Leicester ground out an important win on a difficult night.
Casadei’s best performance yet
Since Casadei arrived on loan from Chelsea his performances have not met expectations. But last night’s showing was evidence that the Italian has got potential. The loanee was tenacious in midfield and showed a good attacking side to his game as he arrived into the box on multiple occasions to force big saves out of Patterson in the Sunderland net.
Negatives
Too many stray passes
Some of the passing displays this season have been mesmerising but last night was not one. There were far too many times when passes did not find their intended target. Hermansen’s distribution was not as good as it has been this season. But for the first time, Leicester were facing a team that pressed on to them aggressively instead of sitting deep.
Right-footed left-centre-back
Wout Faes was shifted to the left side of the defence last night with Justin moving to the right-hand side to combat the pace and trickery of Jack Clarke, but again the absence of a left-footed player on the left-hand side caused a few problems defensively. But with the injury to Callum Doyle Leicester will have to learn to play this way.
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The referee
The final negative is not one that Leicester can do anything about. The referee last night had a poor game. Not only from a Leicester point of view but a Sunderland one as well. Kevin Stroud was far too inconsistent in his decision-making and made a really bad decision when Faes bundled down a Stoke player in the penalty area.