Leicester City’s Premier League winless streak extended to five games as they failed to capitalise on their dominance in a 2-1 defeat against Wolves.
Wolverhampton Wanderers enhanced their prospects of playing in Europe next season by beating a revitalised Leicester City 2-1 at the Molineux on Sunday. The hosts got off to a flying start, courtesy of Leicester’s error-prone backline crumbling inside 10 minutes when Ruben Neves fired home a superb strike into the bottom corner from the edge of the box after being set up by Raul Jimenez.
Brendan Rodgers’s side rallied well after falling behind, but poor finishing let them down time and time again until Ademola Lookman eventually put the ball in the back of the net. Youri Tielemans played a crucial part in the build-up with a defence-splitting threaded pass to find Marc Albrighton, who in turn squared it to Lookman.
The Foxes carried the same attacking intent into the second half and were the better side on the balance of play but were punished ruthlessly for not making their chances count when Daniel Podence’s precise drive from outside the area nestled into the bottom corner past Kasper Schmeichel to put the hosts ahead against the run of play in the 66th minute.
The victory propelled Wolves to seventh place in the standings with 40 points after 24 games, two points behind fifth-placed West Ham with two games in hand, while Leicester continue to languish in the bottom half of the table at 11th place with 27 points. After another disappointing evening in the office, the Hard Tackle will now run the rule over Brendan Rodgers’s men.
Wolves dig deep to secure all three points and climb to seventh in the #PL table ?#WOLLEI pic.twitter.com/BhUbfjqIL9
— Premier League (@premierleague) February 20, 2022
Kasper Schmeichel: 5/10
Schmeichel will be disappointed with his effort to deny Ruben Neves as he could not thwart the effort despite getting a hand on the ball. He could not have done better with the second and did not have much else to do apart from that, with Wolves barely testing him during the game and only managed three shots on target.
Ricardo Pereira: 7/10
Fresh from signing a new deal, Pereira produced a solid display. He provided solid defensive cover and made several vital interventions to compensate for the Foxes’ defensive shortcomings. The Portuguese full-back ended the game with a team-high seven tackles and four clearances, while he also wreaked havoc with some of his marauding runs. But he was easily tricked by Rayan Ait-Nouri in the lead up to Wolves’ second goal.
Daniel Amartey: 6/10
Amartey performed his task well and did not make any mistakes. In fact, the Ghanaian was composed at defending and initiated many of Leicester’s attacks. His passing metrics reflects his calmness and precision in possession as he played the second-highest (69) number of passes in the game at around 96 per cent accuracy.
Caglar Soyuncu: 6/10
Seeking a reprieve after being criticised for some of his performances this season, Soyuncu grew into the game after a shaky start at the back. He looked assured in possession and sprayed a couple of nice long balls to either flank. He completed a total of 7 long balls and also made a couple of well-timed challenges.
Luke Thomas: 5/10
An underwhelming display from Thomas, who has had better games than this. Though he defended strongly, as usual, making well-timed tackles & interceptions, he rarely threatened going forward, barring a tempting cross that begged for a finish.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall: 7/10
Dewsbury-Hall followed up his man of the match display in midweek with another excellent display here, full of endeavour and industry. He took a lot of initiative and carried the ball forward well while combining with Lookman to good effect. He dribbled around opponents in tight spaces and finished the match with three key passes, three tackles and three dribbles. Perhaps he should have done better on Podence’s goal.
Wilfried Ndidi: 4/10
Ndidi has not been at his best since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations and put up another unconvincing display this time out. Keeping aside a few sloppy fouls, he barely had any impact in the engine room and ended the game with a mere defensive tally of one tackle, zero interceptions and one clearance, which is so uncharacteristic of the Nigerian enforcer and rings alarm bells.
Youri Tielemans: 7/10
Tielemans wasted a great opportunity early on and made a couple of errant passes here and there. His corners and free-kicks were also hit-or-miss. He was slow to react for Neves’s goal but made amends for it with a sublime ball to find Albrighton in the build-up to Lookman’s goal. Despite his inconsistencies, he was one of the few players on the field to churn opportunities out of nothing with his passing ability as he did for the equaliser, which is why he is so crucial.
Marc Albrighton: 7/10
Albrighton is such a valuable component of the squad. His versatility was utilised at right-wing for this game, and he did not disappoint by any means. While he was sloppily lost possession a fair few times and his crossing left a lot to be desired, he made the smart run and got the assist for Lookman’s goal. He also contributed defensively, shown by his three tackles, but his set-piece delivery and decision-making in the attacking third could have been better.
Patson Daka: 5/10
Daka had a very uneventful game, mirrored by his mere 17 touches throughout his time on the pitch. He struggled to get involved in the game but was efficient when he did and spread the play to bring more forwards into attacks. He fired two shots on target and was given little breathing space up against Wolves’ centre-backs.
Ademola Lookman: 8/10
?? Ademola Lookman vs Wolves ?
100% Dribble Success (7)
82% Pass Accuracy (82)
4 Recoveries
3 Shots (2 on target)
2 Chances Created
1/1 Long Ball Accuracy
1 Goal ⚽? Most Successful Dribbles (7)
Really deserved something out of today’s game pic.twitter.com/6VX3zI0UKU
— ????_?? (@LCFCshitposting) February 20, 2022
In the absence of the injured Harvey Barnes, Lookman was moved out to his favoured left-wing spot and performed admirably. He was arguably the best player on the pitch for Leicester as he was constantly asking questions from Wolves’ defenders with his excellent footwork and dribbling ability. He timed his run perfectly before slotting in the equaliser, but unfortunately, a goal was not enough for Leicester on the day.
SUBSTITUTES
Kelechi Iheanacho: 6/10
Iheanacho struggled to have any meaningful impact after coming on for Daka on the 73rd minute-mark and seemed a bit off the pace on the evening. He only had 4 touches of the ball.
James Maddison: 5/10
Maddison was subbed on with a little over 15 minutes remaining before the final whistle. He added energy and spark to the Leicester attack but blew up several good opportunities with shots from outside the box.
