A team selection close to the one playing Aston Villa, with one change made, giving a start to Stephy Mavididi and placing Abdul Fatawu on the bench. Kasey McAteer and Jannik Vestergaard surprisingly not even on the bench, possibly a reason for those two missing the game, as they both played well on international duty.
We would all have settled for a draw before the match, but today Leicester lost three points in the latter stages due to different happenings being down to the manager not doing his job.
The game was even early on, and out of no where Jamie Vardy turned up, picking up a brilliant pass from Wilfred Ndidi. Vardy (37) showing everyone of his doubters that he still can run and be the player to win such a race against much younger players, Leicester were 1-0 up after 21 minutes.
Leicester kept their lead first half. A bit of play back and forward, Palace having the advantage and pushing for a goal, but good defensive work from especially Wout Faes made it possible to keep that clean sheet.
Stephy Mavididi became important and in him you have a special weapon, as he became important just in the start of the 2nd half. He picked up a pass from Wilfred Ndidi, making a double of assists as the shot from Stephy Mavididi found the net from close range.
Just a minute later Crystal Palace were back with a goal, being allowed, after VAR had their say, seen as an offside from the linesman, and from then on, Leicester had little or no eagerness to try to play a bit higher in the field.
Steve Cooper must be heavilly blamed for his decision making as that made it even more difficult to keep some sort of momentum, taking off Wilfred Ndidi, leaving the offensive midfield position in limbo, bringing on Hamza Choudhury just to defend. Then in the 79th minute Cooper makes another massive error, taking off Jordan Ayew and replacing him with Conor Coady, as the team looks more like a sack with stones, than trying to push up the field.
In the end Conor Coady, not really in any shape to play at this level at this point, not being involved much in regular play earlier on, makes a fatal error just as the game looks over. This results in Crystal Palace getting a penalty, in which they score, and a 2-0 lead is eaten up by a team that on the day was the better side out there, no doubt.
- Positives
- Oliver Skipp and Wilfred Ndidi giving the midfield good depth, both impressed today
- Mads Hermansen having a good game, looking steady
- Wout Faes with a solid defensive performance
- Jamie Vardy scoring, what a player and what a fantastic goal in his own special spirit
- Bringing a point to the table from a difficult away fixture at Selhurst Park
- Negatives
- Not having any of the three, Vestergaard, Pereira and McAteer in play
- Steve Cooper making fatal tactical mistakes toward the end, leaving the structure to just defend
- Taking off Wilfred Ndidi, and not replacing him with Bounanotte or El Khannouss
- Conor Coady is a major risk at this point, being the reason for Leicester losing major points
- Giving away a 2-0 lead, and being outplayed, with just 33% possession.
Player Ratings: Hermansen 7, Justin 6, Okoli 6, Faes 7, Kristiansen 6, Ndidi 7, Winks 5, Skipp 7, Vardy 7, Mavididi 6, Ayew 6, Subs: Fatawu, Choudhury, Coady
- Leicester City, Man of the Match
Match Stats (H/A)
- Possession: 66 / 33
- Shots on Target: 4 / 4
- Corners: 5 / 2
- Fouls: 11 / 15