Recap
Leicester City were brushed aside by Manchester United by a score of 3-0 at the King Power on Sunday evening. Rasmus Hojlund struck halfway through the first period to give the visitors the lead at the break. Anthony Garnacho added a second after the hour mark and Bruno Fernandes grabbed a third right before second-half injury time.
I don’t know what else to say. We didn’t do anything well. We never looked like scoring. We were to easy to beat in defence. This was a deserved 3-0 defeat. Let’s just go to the takeaways, because they’re more involved than normal tonight.
3 Takeaways
We became the first club in English league football history to lose seven straight at home without scoring. For the newcomers who chose to support Leicester City, we are a history-making club. It is not always the kind of history you want to make. Morale couldn’t be lower. I think you can reasonably point to the extremely quiet transfer window in January as the time when the players felt like they’d been cut adrift. You would expect the club to bring in reinforcements and we added a backup fullback.
Which nicely brings me to the second point: I’ve never felt more detached from the leadership of the club. I’ve supported Leicester for almost 30 years now and, as some of you older heads surely know, things have been bad. But they’ve never felt this...hopeless? The summer transfer window was baffling, the managerial choice clearly didn’t work, and, while I know this is a small thing, selecting a crypto casino as our shirt sponsor just felt awfully on the nose. I don’t know what the plan is. I’m not sure there is one.
Finally, I have to mention something which really hurts. This is nothing like 2014/15, the year of the Great Escape. That season, we played reasonably well throughout the entire schedule but every tiny mistake was maximally punished. The club were playing well, the performances were good, and the escape was as much a matter of the results finally matching the performances as anything else. None of this is true of this season. We’re 19th because we’re the 19th best club in the league and our performances reflect that.
In my opinion, this is still Vardy’s greatest goal.
The defeat leaves us on 17 points from 29 matches and 19th on the table. We’re 9 points behind 17th-placed Wolves, but their goal differential is imposing. Ironically, this is the same point return we had at this point in 2015, but like I said above, that’s where the similarities end. Next up is the international break, and thank The Twelve for that. When league play resumes, we travel to the Etihad to face Manchester City on 2 April. On the 7th, we host League Cup holders Newcastle at the King Power.
Leicester City: Hermansen, Justin (McAteer 82’), Faes, Coady, Kristiansen (Mavididi 82’), Thomas, Soumare (Winks 64’), Ndidi, El Khannouss (Ayew 90+4’), Daka (Buonanotte 64’), Vardy
Manchester United: Onana, de Ligt, Lindelof, Heaven, Mazraoui, Fernandes, Ugarte, Dalot, Garnacho, Eriksen, Hojlund
Brentford FC v Leicester City FC - Premier League How many changes do YOU think we’ll see next season?
Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images
Brentford FC v Leicester City FC - Premier League How many changes do YOU think we’ll see next season?
Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images
Key Moments and Notes
1’- The commentary team are predicting a comfortable win for Manchester United and claim Leicester have passed “the point of no return.” So this is a freebie, right?
4’- Close! Sloppy play from both sides results in Ndidi nicking the ball deep in the United half. He plays in Vardy and the striker hits it first time. It’s on target, but not the most difficult save for Onana.
14’- If you’re not watching, you’re not missing anything. The Red Devils are attacking unconvincingly. The Foxes aren’t attacking at all.
16’- Onana and Lindelof almost get it all wrong on a ball over the top, but the keeper comes out of his box and deals with it.
19’- Garnacho shoots from distance after City half clear a corner. It’s an easy take for Hermansen.
24’- Close! Eriksen curls in a ball that beats his countryman but comes off the inside of the post. Fortunate.
28’- GOAL! A simple ball over the top finds Rasmus Hojlund. Soumare gets it all wrong and the striker is free to pick his shot. He slots it into the far corner with Hermansen absolutely stranded. Too easy.
39’- A decent penalty shout for the Foxes. United play themselves into trouble in their own area. Daka’s shot is blocked, but it comes back to El Khannouss. His shot comes off Ferndandes’ outstretched arm. It was from very close range, but...you have seen them given when the arm is in that position.
45+2’- Halftime. The scoreline perfectly reflects the run of play.
46’- No changes for either side at the half. Not sure how I feel about that from a Leicester perspective.
I agree with exactly half of this statement.
49’- Nearly a chance for the Foxes. Soumare does well in midfield and slides in Vardy on the left. Instead of trying a low-percentage shot, he tries a low-percentage pass across the face of the goal. Heaven gets there before Daka and puts it behind. The young defender is injured making the clearance and requires extended treatment before coming off. Here’s hoping it isn’t too bad.
57’- Saved by the flag! Soumare gives it away in midfield and United break 3-on-3. Hojlund finds Garnacho on the right and the winger lashes home. The flag goes up and the pass was just a little late, causing Garnacho to stray offside.
63’- Two changes for the Foxes as Harry Winks and Facundo Buonanotte come on for Soumare and Daka.
68’- GOAL! The Foxes defend deep and fail to clear a ball in their box. It pings to Garnacho, who just turns and shoots, slotting home inside the near post.
75’- City look more likely now. That bar is low and it is still well shy of “you think they’re going to score.”
82’- Wingbacks Kristiansen and Justin are off, Kasey McAteer and Stephy Mavididi come on. It’s a risk van Nistelrooy has to take. He probably had to take it 20 minutes ago.
90’- GOAL! Fernandes receives a cutback on the edge of the area and sweeps it inside the side netting. He makes it look easy, but it wasn’t. The technique was perfect.
90+4’- Jordan Ayew comes on for Bilal El Khannouss.
90+7’- Close! Vardy is slipped in and he takes all of his frustration out on the ball, positively belting it. It comes off Onana’s arm more than the keeper actually saving it. Unfortunate.
90+-9’- That’s it.