Recap
Leicester City dropped all three points against Wolverhampton Wanderers by a score of 3-0 at Molineaux on Saturday. Matheus Cunha’s tap-in gave the hosts a 1-0 lead at the break. Goals from Jorgen Strand Larsen and Rodrigo Gomes on either side of a missed penalty from Jamie Vardy gave Wolves the final margin.
This is depressing.
The scoreline is perfectly indicative of the run of play. The back line defended well for long periods and then were carved open like a laser through butter three times. The midfield were regularly overrun. The attack didn’t. I mean, they didn’t attack.
Everything Vardy said in his post was accurate and on display today. We’ll go into that in detail next week, but we never looked like we belonged on the same pitch as Wolves. That’s a tough pill to swallow but we have to face the fact that we’re not good enough. We won’t get better until we’re honest about what we are.
Did anyone play particularly well? I’d probably give our Man of the Match to Wout Faes. He cleared a ball off the line and certainly put in the effort. There wasn’t a great deal of competition for the honour. And if that isn’t a depressing thought, I don’t know what is.
3 Takeaways
- I was up until 3:00 AM last night. This performance was not worth getting up five hours later to watch.
- It’s too early to speculate, but I think there’s a real chance that Luke Thomas is the only one of our starting XI today who’ll be here next year.
- I’m usually not a fan of a younger player shaving their head, but Oliver Skipp might want to consider it. You can see the 24 year-old’s bald patch from the cheap seats.
Today’s loss leaves the Foxes on 18 points from 34 matches. We’re 19th on the table and we’re very likely to remain there for the rest of the season. Our last four fixtures are:
Southampton (3 May)
at Nottingham Forest (11 May)
Ipswich Town (18 May)
at Bournemouth (25 May)
Leicester City: Hermansen, Ricardo, Faes, Coady, Thomas, Ndidi, Soumare, Buonanotte, El Khannouss, De Cordova-Reid, Vardy
Wolves: Sa, Doherty, Agbadou, T. Gomes, Semedo, J. Gomes, Andre, Ait-Nouri, Munetsi, Cunha, Larsen
1’- This is the first match of the season where both sides’ fates are settled. What kind of intensity will we see?
10’- If the first ten minutes are any indication, the answer to the previous entry’s question is “not a great deal.”
17’- The Foxes get something going at last. Buonanotte gets through a couple of tackles in midfield. He and Vardy are in a two-on-one before Agbadou takes the Argentine down. The referee produces a yellow.
18’- City win a corner from the free kick. Coady gets a strong head to it, but his effort is right at Sa.
22’- Faes’ backpass puts Hermansen in trouble. Larsen closes the keeper down and the attempted clearance comes off the striker’s backside and rolls towards the goal. Fortunately, it’s slow enough for Hermansen to recover.
32’- The break is on for the Foxes but Vardy is offside. The referee plays advantage to Wolves which is something I’ll never get used to.
33’- GOAL! Apparently, it was a good advantage from the ref. The hosts work the ball out to Ait-Nouri in acres of space. He’s allowed to carry the ball to the edge of the area unopposed. He picks out the unmarked Cunha, who taps home from close range.
43’- A promising break from the Foxes comes to nothing when Toti stops De Cordova-Reid in his tracks. It comes at a price as the Jamaica man seems to have done his hamstring. Jordan Ayew replaces him just before the break.
45+5’- It’s halftime now. 1-0 to the hosts.
46’- A triple substation to start the half for the Foxes: Buonanotte, Soumare, and Ricardo are off for Kasey McAteer, Oliver Skipp, and James Justin. Buonanotte suffered a concussion so City have an additional change available.
52’- How have Wolves not doubled their lead? The hosts carve up the City defense. Cunha’s shot deflects off of Munetsi and falls kindly to Ait-Nouri. His shot is well-saved by Hermansen, but it’s worked to Strand-Larsen in the six-yard box. He somehow puts it miles over.
54’- Close! El Khannouss gets a view of goal from just outside the box and tries to curl it around Sa. The keeper is beaten but it drifts agonisingly wide.
56’- GOAL! Too easy for Wolves. Strand Larsen starts the move in midfield, finding Cunha on the left. The goalscorer threads a perfect diagonal ball through the City defence and finds Strand Larsen in stride in the box. He’s too strong for Coady and finishes smartly across Hermansen.
69’- Saved
penalty! Vardy is taken down by Sa in the box following a lovely pass from El Khannouss. The video feed shows that Vardy has gone to the left with all of his penalty attempts this year and, wouldn’t you know it, he does again and Sa saves easily.
82’- Jeremy Monga is on for El Khannouss.
85’- GOAL! Amazing pass from Sarabia to find Cunha in the City half. He lays it off for Rodrigo Gomes and he has a simple finish to make it 3-0.
90+5’- It’s over. The scoreline tells the story.
