Leicester City ratings v Stoke: Iheanacho and Vardy on target with Vestergaard commanding
How we scored the Leicester City players as goals from their two strikers saw them breeze past Midlands rivals Stoke and extend their cushion inside the Championship’s top two
Stoke for their sixth straight Championship win.
Kelechi Iheanacho and Jamie Vardy got the goals in a dominant, if occasionally sloppy, performance where they barely needed to get out of first gear. They now have a 10-point cushion inside the automatic promotion places
With the fixture the fourth game in 11 days for City, Maresca made the changes he had hinted at earlier in the week. Six fresh faces came into the side, including Harry Souttar for his first league appearance of the season, and against old club, and also Hamza Choudhury in an unorthodox position on the left of the back three.
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Despite the changes, the pattern of the first half was very similar to that against Preston, with City dominating the ball high up the pitch. This time, they had a goal to show for it.
City sped up their play as they knocked it left and then back inside, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall finding Ricardo Pereira, who attracted defenders to create space for Iheanacho. The ball was prodded through to the striker, and while his first touch was poor, taking him wide, he hooked a shot back across goal and into the far corner.
City had created very little beyond that, despite being stationed higher up the pitch than they have been all season, and that was partly because their touch was a little sloppier and their passing not quite as flowing as usual. However, with Stoke poor, it didn’t matter that City didn’t get out of first gear.
But 1-0 is not a comfortable scoreline, and City nearly conceded an equaliser 25 seconds after the interval. Choudhury missed an interception and Mehdi Laris crossed between Mads Hermansen and Jannik Vestergaard, but Nathan Lowe could not direct his header into the gaping net.
City continued to allow Stoke to get a foothold in the game, and Lowe had another chance when he spun Vestergaard and fired in a shot that Hermansen had to tip wide. But that livened City up.
They then pushed for a second and after Abdul Fatawu put a shot wide and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall had a dink saved by Mark Travers one-on-one, Vardy sealed the game. With almost his first touch after coming on, Vardy tapped in when fellow substitute Wilfred Ndidi scuffed a shot that fooled the Stoke defence. Here’s how we scored the players.
Mads Hermansen: He’s really racking up the clean sheets now. In his one big moment with his hands, he tipped a Lowe shot into the side-netting, and then everything else was comfortable. With his feet, the chipped passes to the full-back were not quite as crisp, but there were still some good long balls to set up attacks. 7
Ricardo Pereira: He won the ball back regularly to keep Stoke penned in and played a key role in Iheanacho’s goal, moving into a dangerous area to attract the defenders to create space for the striker before finding him with a prod through. His passing was mostly tidy, with the odd sloppy ball. 7
Harry Souttar: There were a couple of long balls that didn’t work out in the first half, even if the idea was right, but he improved at those. Defensively, he was strong. There were no iffy moments there. He does generally look a little short of confidence though. 6
Jannikr Vestergaad: He completely commanded the game in the first half, telling team-mates where to run and spreading play with some excellent crossfield passes. Defensively, he brought down Lowe to pick up a booking rather than chase him back, but was otherwise untroubled. 8
Hamza Choudhury: Not being left-footed makes such a difference in that position, and it meant a lot of Choudhury’s play went backwards rather than forwards, even when there were men in space ahead of him. Defensively, he was very good though, and won nearly all of his individual battles. 6
Harry Winks: Another one of those games where he looked far too good for the Championship. He barely misplaced a pass, playing it more quickly than everybody else too, and when the game opened up second half, he carried it forward well. 8
Cesare Casadei: His best game in a while. The Italian was far from sluggish, as he has been since the September international break, working really hard and showing a combative side to win the ball back in the midfield. On the ball he was a little better too. 6
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall: It was too congested for him in the first half and he struggled to get involved. But in the second, he came into his own, and was at the heart of nearly all of City’s promising attacks. His energy nearly got him another goal too. 7
Yunus Akgun: He took up good positions to receive the ball to feet out wide and then get himself into the box, but despite his enthusiasm, there wasn’t much in the way of end product. He went close with a shot to the bottom corner just before he was subbed, but that was it. 6
Kelechi Iheanacho: He got his goal thanks to a combination of good movement, a poor touch, and a great finish. His touch continued to desert him at times, but he improved just before he came off, setting up big chances for Fatawu and Dewsbury-Hall. 7
Abdul Fatawu: He was lively, but over-hit passes, made dodgy decisions, and occasionally found it difficult to bring the ball under control, as if he was thinking about his next move before his first touch was secure. Played a big part in Vardy’s goal though with a nice pass to Ndidi. 6
Stephy Mavididi: Ill-advisedly tried to dribble out of his own box with his first involvement, but he was good thereafter, and was involved in many of City’s attacks as space opened up. 6
Wilfred Ndidi: One of the most effective substitutions for a while. He looks so confident. He set up Vardy’s goal and could have had a hat-trick himself thanks to his persistent runs beyond the last man. 8
