Slim pickings
With relegation being a reality for some time, the attention of Leicester City-watchers has, rightly, shifted to what will undoubtedly be a busy and interesting summer. However, despite the fact that the chances of getting out of the bottom three have gone, the prospect of helping to deprive Forest of a Champions League place was enough to pique the interest of Foxes’ fans heading in their thousands to the City Ground on Sunday afternoon. In the relativist world of football, Leicester’s season has been made more painful because of the, surprising, success of their near neighbours. It wouldn’t make up for the abysmal season endured by Ruud van Nistelrooy’s men, but at least a result for City would provide a little solace.
Honours shared
As predicted, the Leicester boss chose the same starting XI that beat Southampton at the King Power Stadium last weekend, the only change to the squad being the return of fit again Facundo Buonanotte who had to be satisfied with a place on the bench. This was Jamie Vardy’s 499th game for the club. For Forest, the dangerous winger Callum Hudson-Odoi remained out with a hamstring injury.
In a game that ebbed and flowed, Leicester came out of it with a creditable draw against high-flying Forest. Against the run of play, Conor Coady put the Foxes ahead after 16 minutes only for Morgan Gibbs-White to equaliser with an unchallenged header. The game was very scrappy with not much genuine quality on show. Leicester fans are used to that this season but the home team’s fans would have expected more from their men.
On the hour mark, former Leicester striker Chris Wood put Forest ahead, his eighth goal in 13 games against his former employers. Things were looking ominous for City. To their enormous credit, though, they fought their way back into the game and, with the help of effective substitutions equalised with a cool finish from Buonanotte. Indeed, the Foxes could have won it at the death, 15-year Jeremy Monga having a shot tipped over the bar. The spoils were shared and the away fans speculated what the season would have been like had their team shown this kind of fight earlier in the season.
On the pitch
Just as we were leaving the ground at the end of the game, the large frame of the Forest owner, Evangelos Marinakis, could be seen remonstrated with his manager Nuno Espirito Santo on the pitch. He looked unhappy. And so he might. The reds seem to be imploding at just the wrong time. That’s only one win in six games. Champions League qualification is no longer in their hands. That is a serious financial blow and Marinakis might be forced to bend the rules as he has in the past. A great watch for Leicester fans though.