Ademola Lookman and Kelechi Iheanacho inspired Leicester City to a 2-0 win over Millwall in the Carabao Cup third round on Wednesday.
Millwall were the brighter of the two sides in the first half, although Danny Ward was not troubled a whole lot in the Leicester City goal apart from a couple of moments. The visitors slowly grew into the game as half-time approached and post the interval, they carried that momentum forward to break the deadlock five minutes into the second period.
A fine team was almost finished by Kelechi Iheanacho, whose shot was saved by George Long only for the rebound to fall straight to Ademola Lookman for the opener. Leicester kept on probing thereafter, but were slightly wasteful before Iheanacho finally sealed the deal two minutes from the end of regulation time with a thumping finish.
The win takes Leicester City to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, where they will take on Brighton & Hove Albion. The Hard Tackle now runs the rule over Brendan Rodgers’s men following a hard-fought win over Millwall.
Danny Ward: 6/10
There was not a whole lot that Ward had to do on the night apart from making one straightforward pass. Completed most of his attempted passes, which helped Leicester build-up play smartly.
Daniel Amartey: 6/10
With Brendan Rodgers deploying a three-man central defensive unit, Amartey was drafted in as a centre-back, and the player fared better than he had in any of his outings last month. Hugged the byline for the most part while winning a couple of duels. Most importantly, completed 95 percent of his attempted passes to facilitate efficient build-up play.
Caglar Soyuncu: 6/10
After a dreadful start to the season, Soyuncu has been growing in stature once again, and this was once again a performance that showed that he is taking steps in the right direction. Made four clearances and a block while winning seven duels.
Jonny Evans: 6/10
The first time Evans has completed 90 minutes in a game this season, and the veteran defender did reasonably well. Apart from one or two nervy moments, Evans held his own, winning five duels and completing three tackles. Good game for him to get going this season.
Marc Albrighton: 6/10
A rather sub-par display by Albrighton, who just did not manage to make any sort of impact on the game, especially when he charged forward. The experienced midfielder also saw very little of the ball, struggling to get involved as much as he would have liked.
Youri Tielemans: 6/10
The most creative player on the pitch, although Tielemans played well within himself on the night. The Belgian international played a couple of key passes while completing 80 percent of his attempted passes. Some of his forward plays, though, were sloppy and he lost the ball a concerning 20 times.
Wilfred Ndidi: 6/10
Not the most solid of performances by Ndidi, who took him to find his feet in the middle of the park. When he did so, there was no way past the Nigerian midfielder, who broke up plays at will while completing four clearances and three tackles. There were some sloppy passes played, but he also had the tendency of picking out some smart passes as well, including a couple that initiated counters.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall: 6/10
Handed a golden opportunity to impress in midfield, Dewsbury-Hall did well to provide Leicester the control they were lacking in the initial periods of the game, while winning as many as seven duels. However, he was a tad bit wasteful on the ball, losing possession 12 times.
Luke Thomas: 6/10
Initially pegged back by Millwall, Thomas fared reasonably well defensively, winning six duels. However, his output further up the pitch was rather poor, as he could not manage to create any chance while he also lost the ball a staggering 17 times. Needs to do better.
Kelechi Iheanacho: 7/10
Iheanacho has time and again been overlooked from the starting lineups in Premier League games. However, the Nigerian international has not wasted any opportunity to stake his claim for more regular inclusion, which is exactly what he did against Millwall as well. It was Iheanacho whose shot was saved and rebounded towards Ademola Lookman before he made it 2-0 late with a driven finish.
?? Kelechi Iheanacho ? Milwall ?
100% Shot Accuracy (2)
100% Dribble Success (1)
92% Pass Accuracy (36)
3 Total Shots
2 Accurate Long Balls
1 Recovery
1 Assist ?️ (Sort of..)
1 Goal ⚽Cup Messi strikes again. He HAS to start for us every week, it's criminal he is benched ? pic.twitter.com/33nEJYdB6u
— ????_?? (@LCFCshitposting) September 22, 2021
Ademola Lookman: 7/10
Drafted into the starting lineup in place of Harvey Barnes, Lookman took some time to get going but posed a great deal of threat once he found his feet. Only managed one shot all game, but that did job to effectively seal the win for Leicester, with his ghosting run to be in the right place at the right time being commendable.
SUBSTITUTES
Patson Daka: 6/10
A surprised omission from the starting lineup, Daka replaced Lookman midway though the second half and came close to scoring once. Completed all his attempted passes while playing a key pass as well.
Jannik Vestergaard: 6/10
On for Albrighton, Vestergaard was a solid customer at the back in the final quarter of the game, winning each of his four duels while completing all but one pass.
