Leicester were up against Northampton away, in this EFL Trophy fixture. In the line-up you had both Michael Golding and Will Alves, as the two had a good impact in play during the game.
Northampton came to the game from a 2-1 home FA Cup defeat vs. Kettering. The Cobblers looked eager to get something from the game, as we just had that feeling when we had seen a few minutes of this game.
Leon McSweenie had taken out a team that looked steady and balanced. Leicester played well in the start of the game, keeping possession, but it was little or no sting as most attempts just ebbed out in nothing.
Northampton kept themselves concentrated and let Leicester play, easily scoring their first goal after 30 minutes. The goal came out of nothing really, scoring from header. Timothy Eyoma (Northampton Town), very close range, down to the bottom right corner, assisted by Samy Chouchane with a cross following a corner.
Leicester had momentum from that point on until the end of the first half, with a number of attempts blocked by Northampton, not really having the power needed to strike against a team of Northampton’s standard.
2nd half, Leicester came out positve, especially Michael Golding started to show strenght, having a lot of the ball and making attempts to score. We do not know why Leon McSweenie decided to take him off, because he was running the show up until then. Golding also got company from Wormleighton, who we also thought had a good game, possibly pushing for that equalizing goal giving minutes to Jeremy Monga and Jake Evans.
But instead, Northampton used this to their advantage, being effective and scoring their second goal in the 70th minute. The 17 year old Northampton forward Neo Dobson striked, with his first goal of the evening. Leicester looked good, but again being too soft in areas were the game is won. Leicester made two more substitutions bringing on Josh King and Louis Page, but their quality never became evident. King missing a major chance coming alone with the Northampton goalkeeper, but his shot went wide. Then instead Northampton scored, again it was Neo Dobson, doubling his account, with another easy scored goal, from close range.
Northampton brought on five subs and finished with a major group of teenagers on the field. We do feel that Leicester could have got something out of this game, and in all fearness it was far from a 3-0 winning game. This said, improvement must be made in both boxes as sloppy defending and bad finishing stopped Leicester from getting anything this evening.
- Positives
- Keeping good possession and running this game in full
- Creating chances and having the opportunities to score
- Michael Golding showing his strength
- Jeremy Monga looked lively when coming on
- Olabade Aluko was also one to watch on the day
- Negatives
- Sloppiness and soft elements of defending and finishing
- Letting in three easy goals, losing battles inside the penalty area
- Strange coaching from McSweenie, taking off Golding and losing momentum
- Alves not really dominating and not having the influence needed to win this game
Player Ratings: Bausor 5, Wormleighton 6, Godsmark-Ford 5, Wilson-Brown 4, Aluko 6, Alves 5, Golding 6, Ewing 4, Cartwright 4, Pennant 4, Joseph 4 Subs: Monga, Evans, King, Page
- Leicester City, Man of the Match
Match Stats (H/A)
- Possession: 36 / 64
- Shots on Target: 8 / 3
- Corners: 1 / 8
- Fouls: 13 / 9
