Jonny Evans stood out in a sub-par Leicester City side as they were held to a 1-1 draw by ten-man Southampton at St. Mary’s on Friday.
Leicester City nearly made the worst possible start to the game before Kyle Walker-Peters was denied an early goal by a marginal offside call. Southampton continued to carry a threat in the early exchanges, but lost their early momentum after Jannik Vestergaard was sent off for a challenge on Jamie Vardy, even though he had appeared to win the ball.
The decision, though, meant that the hosts sat with men behind the ball, with Leicester struggling to conjure up any meaningful chances as the game remained goalless heading into half-time. Post the interval, it was more of the same till the hour mark, when Southampton grabbed the lead against the run of play, with James Ward-Prowse converting from the spot after a handball by Kelechi Iheanacho.
A few minutes later, Iheanacho made amends by supplying a superb ball for Jonny Evans, who headed in from close range to make it 1-1. Thereafter, it was all Leicester, but some superb work in goal by Alex McCarthy coupled with wasteful finishing meant the game ended all square. The Hard Tackle now runs the rule over Brendan Rodgers’ men.
Kasper Schmeichel: 6/10
Schmeichel was practically a spectator in the game as apart from making a couple of regulation saves, he did not have to do much. The Leicester City skipper did not really stand a chance of saving his opposite number, James Ward-Prowse’s penalty either. Misplaced just one of the 12 passes he attempted on the night.
Wesley Fofana: 6/10
Unfortunate to be taken off at half-time, as Leicester looked to throw more bodies forward by introducing Ayoze Perez. In the opening 45 minutes, though, Fofana was barely troubled and spent more time in the Southampton half than his, which shows just how much the visitors dominated after Jannik Vestergaard’s dismissal.
Jonny Evans: 7/10
The man who made the difference for Leicester, albeit at the other end of the pitch. Evans popped up to nod in the equaliser, having chosen to stick around after a corner had gone awry. Defensively, there was not much that he had to do, but he did win 8 duels and ensured he did not put a foot wrong when Southampton did arrive in the Leicester half.
Caglar Soyuncu: 6/10
With Leicester firmly in control of the proceedings, Soyuncu was not put under pressure. Having said that, to his credit, he did win each of the 7 duels he contested, particularly appearing to be imperious in the air. Even played a couple of key passes, having been allowed to move further up the pitch on a few occasions.
Timothy Castagne: 5/10
The marauding Castagne was a constant outlet down the right flank for Leicester and sent in a number of crosses into the Southampton box, only to miss his target most of the times. Hardly called into action defensively, although he did complete a couple of tackles. Needed to do much more with the ball at his feet, though.
Wilfred Ndidi: 6/10
Sitting at the base of the Leicester midfield, Ndidi ensured that Southampton never really managed to hit the visitors on the break, bar one or two occasions. Won 5 duels while completing most of his passes. However, he scuffed his late shot wide and ought to have done better to keep it on target.
Youri Tielemans: 5/10
It is hardly a surprise that Leicester appeared to be somewhat jaded in their approach in the final third when the man who pulls the strings was well off his best. Tielemans was a little passive at times with the ball at his feet and when he did move it along at a quicker tempo, he lacked the incisiveness to make things happen. Still managed a game-high 5 key passes, but never really created a whole lot.
Luke Thomas: 5/10
After a decent display against Crystal Palace, Thomas needed to push on further and nail down his spot in the side. However, this was a poor performance by the Englishman, who carried no threat whatsoever, with his deliveries lacking bite while his passing was a bit sub-par. Hardly put under pressure defensively, but did win 8 duels.
James Maddison: 5/10
Leicester’s creator-in-chief endured a bit of a night off on Friday. Aimed plenty of shots at goal, but apart from a couple of efforts that were tipped away with ease by Alex McCarthy, he did not really threaten much. Did play a couple of key passes, but he needed to do more with his passes instead of trying to aim a shot at goal every time he found himself inside 25 yards of the Southampton keeper.
Kelechi Iheanacho: 6/10
The good and the bad for Iheanacho in this game. The Nigerian striker conceded the penalty from which Ward-Prowse scored to hand Southampton a shock lead. However, he was at hand to create chances for his teammates and delivered the pinpoint cross for Evans to head in the equaliser. Even came close to scoring himself once, although there were a few sloppy passes.
Jamie Vardy: 5/10
Southampton's Vestergaard sees ? for his foul on Jamie Vardy in the 10'
Southampton are getting flashbacks from 18 months ago, when their player saw ? in the 12' and Leicester City would go on to win 9-0 ? pic.twitter.com/sdMeEiT5If
— International Champions Cup (@IntChampionsCup) April 30, 2021
The Player to Watch in our preview, Vardy needed to do a whole lot more to put pressure on the Southampton defence. However, his movement failed to create any space whatsoever for the rest of his teammates, as it usually does and he was even left isolated at times, which was quite strange considering Leicester’s dominance in the game. Denied by the excellent McCarthy late on.
SUBSTITUTES
Ayoze Perez: 5/10
Introduced at half-time in place of Fofana, Perez, who has a stellar record against Southampton, put in the hard yards and played a couple of key passes, but was also a tad bit wasteful at times.
Marc Albrighton: 6/10
A bundle of energy after replacing Thomas, Albrighton put in the hard yards and tried to make things happen from the right flank, albeit without much in way of end product.
