Recap
Leicester City were thrashed by Everton by a score of 4-0 in City’s final match at Goodison Park. The Toffees opened the scoring on 10 seconds through Abdoulaye Doucoure and doubled the lead five minutes later when Beto got behind the defence. Beto and Ilman Ndiaye scored in injury time of the first and second half respectively to give the hosts their final margin.
That was just awful. City were poor in every area of the pitch and good value for the defeat. Leicester managed a single shot on target. When you play the entire match down a goal (or more), there has to be a response. There was none. Today was a total waste of time from a Leicester standpoint unless it spurs some urgent buying over the next two days.
Was anyone particularly good? No. The central defenders and central midfielders were especially poor, and Vardy never saw the ball so we don’t know how he was. How bad was the defence? Everton had scored 9 goals from open play all season. They scored 4 today.
What scares me is that this is the blueprint for beating Leicester. Faes and Kristiansen like to cheat forward, leaving Vestergaard as the last man. Play in behind him and you’ll get chances. The big Dane has no pace and there’s no cover for him. It was just too easy for Everton.
3 Takeaways
- Without Ricardo and Ndidi and Fatawu, this team isn’t good enough to survive.
- Managers get fired for performances like this.
- There are no good takeaways.
The defeat leaves us on 17 points from 24 matches. Ouch. We remain 17th on the table, but Wolves have a game in hand. We’re 7 points behind 16th-place Tottenham, so it’s really just down to staying ahead of Ipswich and Wolves. We travel to Old Trafford to face Manchester United in the FA Cup on Friday. Then, on the day after Valentine’s Day, we face Arsenal at the King Power.
Leicester City: Mads Hermansen, James Justin, Wout Faes, Jannik Vestergaard, Victor Kristiansen, Harry Winks, Boubakary Soumare, Jordan Ayew, Bilal El Khannouss, Bobby De Cordova-Reid, Jamie Vardy
Everton: Jordan Pickford, Jake O’Brien, James Tarkowski, Jarrad Branthwaite, Vitaliy Mykolenko, James Garner, Idriss Gueye, Jesper Lindstrom, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Ilman Ndiaye, Beto
1’- GOAL! Well, that was the worst start we could possibly imagine. From the kickoff, Pickford plays a ball over the top. Soumare loses out to Beto, who lets it run for Doucoure. He receives it unchallenged and slots past Hermansen. 1-0 to the Toffees on 10 seconds.
6’- GOAL! Tarkowski plays a long ball to Beto. Justin plays him onside and Faes doesn’t have the pace to keep up. He shoots from the same spot as Doucoure five minutes and it’s the same result. 2-0 to Everton.
13’- Better from the Foxes, who are showing some composure to move the ball around outside the Everton area. Better is still well short of good, but it’s a start.
20’- The hosts have the ball in the back of the net from a corner. Garner heads it forward and it falls to O’Brien, who taps home from close range. He’s 3 yards offside, so it’s an easy call for the linesman.
25’- Close! The Foxes play a corner to the front post. Justin’s shot is block and falls to Kristiansen. His rasping effort goes just over the bar.
33’- Close! Garner makes a marauding run into the box and shoots from a tight angle. It comes off the post, nearly sneaking in.
45’- Close! Mykolenko picks out Doucoure in the box. He hits it first time and skies it over the bar. He should have done better.
45+2’- GOAL! Leicester are undone by another simple, direct ball. Beto’s run splits the defenders and Garner’s through ball is perfect. The striker just has to pick his spot and slot home.
46’- Shockingly, there are no changes for the Foxes at the half.
53’- Beto gets behind Vestergaard again, but Faes is back to cover. In fairness, the Dane did a fine job delaying the striker.
60’- Caleb Okoli and Patson Daka are on for Vestergaard and Vardy.
66’- Nothing is happening. Sigh.
74’- Close! Beto retrieves a long cross and tees up the unmarked Linstrom just 8 yards out. It’s a fine save by Hermansen, but he shouldn’t have been given the chance.
76’- Justin and De Cordova-Reid are off for Woyo Coulibaly and Stephy Mavididi.
78’- Daka gets a shot on target. It’s an easy save for Pickford. It’s the first City effort on frame.
90+1- GOAL! Faes and Okoli show what happens when two defenders are on different wavelengths, gifting the ball to the hosts. Ndiaye waltzes through the City defence and sends Hermansen the wrong way.
