Marc Albrighton nets the winner to mark a 2-1 victory for Leicester City at Carrow Road as VAR overrules Norwich’s late equalizer.
Norwich were on a high after thumping Bournemouth 6-0 in the midweek Carabao Cup fixture but were punished ruthlessly early on as Leicester City took the lead at Carrow Road. After a scramble from Brandon Williams, Ricardo Pereira seized the opportunity; he grabbed the ball and sprinted past Ben Gibson towards the byline from where he cut it back for Jamie Vard to lash the ball in the back of the net.
After that, it was end-to-end stuff, with Tim Krul having had to deny Vardy just before the equalizer, but only after a long VAR review handed the hosts a precious penalty kick just before the break. Caglar Soyuncu produced a needless challenge on Pierre Lees-Melou and Teemu Pukki stepped up to dispatch the spot-kick to level things up.
With just under 15 minutes remaining, the visitors doubled their lead, with James Maddison flicking the ball onto Vardy, who released Marc Albrighton in space on the right. The midfielder slotted a powerful low drive into the bottom right corner.
Norwich fans were heartbroken when their late equalizer was cancelled by VAR intervention for a controversial offside from Todd Cantwell, who came in front of Kasper Schmeichel when Kenny McLean headed in Milot Rashica’s corner. After a crucial three points for an injury-hit Brenden Rodgers’ side going into the international break, here are our player ratings for the Foxes.
Kasper Schmeichel: 6.5/10
He denied Lees-Melou a few times and parried one shot away; apart from that, most of the shots came straight to him and were easy pick-ups. His distribution was uncharacteristically poor.
Ricardo Pereira: 7/10
Ricardo again produced the first goal; his pressing was intense and he was alert to rob the ball and then use his pace to lay Vardy in the centre of the box. He was giving Brandon Williams a torrid time; it was a shame he has to limp off with a hamstring issue.
Daniel Amartey: 7.5/10
He was very effective in the game, winning headers and managed the game to ensure that attacks were halted before they became too threatening. He was skilled under press and passed efficiently; he completed 78 passes – the most in the game – also completed two dribbles to release the pressure on the defence.
Caglar Soyuncu: 5/10
Another error-prone display from the Turk. There was no need to slide in and catch Lees-Melou to award Norwich a needless penalty going into the half-time. He also gifted the Canaries a chance with a misplaced pass. He needs to improve to nail down his spot, otherwise, Jonny Evans would be the first-choice after returning from injury.
"That's something he knows he has to improve on." #LCFC https://t.co/lpi0f3HQ5s
— LCFC Live (@LiveLCFC) August 26, 2021
Luke Thomas: 6/10
Norwich tried to target him on the evening, however, unlike at West Ham, he stayed strong and equalled the aggression and toughness in duels. Apart from being easily beaten by Max Aarons once or twice, it was a decent performance.
Wilfred Ndidi: 6.5/10
He was solid on the day; his physicality and aggression were visible in the middle of the park. He completed three tackles and three interceptions, so another decent day in Leicester’s engine room. He provided very little going forwards and was too cautious with his passing.
Youri Tielemans: 7/10
He played some lovely forward passes, especially the first half but soon became tired, but all in all, another decent all-around performance from Tielemans.
Marc Albrighton: 8/10
Produced a powerful low strike to net home the winner, his movement was intelligent for the goal. Before that, he was anonymous and picked up a booking for a rash challenge. He did come to life after scoring the goal and dug deep to ensure the winning outcome.
Harvey Barnes: 5/10
His poorest displays since coming back from injury. He got the better of Aarons, but that ultimately resulted in nothing as his most crosses and passes were misfired. He lacked the end-product on the evening and wasted a wonderful opportunity in a try to curl it into the far corner.
Jamie Vardy: 8/10
He positioned himself brilliantly for a clinical finish to open the scoring, was very proactive and created goal-scoring opportunities out of scrap. He took two shots, made three dribbles and one key pass. He faded a little in the second half, but the whole team collectively sat back. A goal and an assist mark a great day for the speedy poacher.
Jamie Vardy has now scored as many Premier League goals as Steven Gerrard (120).
All ties are decided by Premier League trophies. ? pic.twitter.com/9Pbnk2dZHX
— William Hill (@WilliamHill) August 28, 2021
SUBSTITUTES
Timothy Castagne: 5.5/10
Had a face mask on to prevent any damage to the face fracture he picked up at Euros. He made a few intelligent forward runs and didn’t fear to get involved despite breaking his eye socket earlier in the summer.
Kelechi Iheanacho: 7/10
Held the ball up very well and brought others into play; he made a good case for Rodgers to start him in the next game but missed a sitter late on.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall: N/A
