The Fosse Way

On one hand, this was an opportunity missed for Leicester City Women. A win at the Amex would have taken Rick Passmoor’s side above their hosts into 8th place in the WSL as we approach the halfway point in the season.

On the other, that never really looked like a possibility beyond a couple of decent first half chances for Jutta Rantala. The first of those, after excellent work down the right by Hannah Cain, was a left foot shot at close range from a tight angle which was well saved by Chiamaka Nnadozie in the Seagulls goal. The second should have been the opener, the Finn sent through on goal and Nnadozie rushing out before adjusting well to save Rantala’s attempted lob right on the edge of the penalty area.

The second of Rantala’s chances came in the 23rd minute. Within two minutes, Brighton had hit the bar through a better executed lob from the lively Kiko Seike. Within another two, they had taken the lead. An impressive team move brought about Seike’s clever through ball for the American forward Madison Haley to run clear and clip the ball past Janina Leitzig for only her second WSL goal – the first also coming against Leicester last season.

Leicester regrouped and managed to apply some pressure ten minutes later when Rantala played in Shannon O’Brien who was run out of it and two subsequent corners were cleared. From the second, Brighton broke at pace and had a four-on-one situation which Asmita Ale did brilliantly to stop before Leitzig could be forced into action.

Passmoor’s side were struggling to cope with Seike and Haley though, the former shooting into the side netting on the turn and the latter bringing a good block from Sari Kees which resulted in the Belgian receiving several minutes of treatment before the half time whistle brought some respite.

If Leicester were relieved to hear that whistle, they showed very little in the way of a response in the second half. Brighton doubled their lead within moments of the interval, centre-back Maelys Mpome left bafflingly free to stride up from her defensive position and side-foot past Leitzig from the edge of the box after a square ball from Nadine Noordam.

With Cain withdrawn five minutes later to be replaced by Rosella Ayane, Leicester lost much of their counter-attacking threat and it was one-way traffic for much of the rest of the game. That carefree dominance from the home side was best demonstrated by goalkeeper Nnadozie finding herself in possession in the centre circle from open play, with a chance quickly materialising for Marisa Olislagers which Leitzig saved well.

As with the men’s team’s two 2-2 draws with Brighton last season, Leicester’s best hope was complacency from the Seagulls and the deeply ingrained impulse to overplay from the back. With fifteen minutes left, that hope bore fruit. After Rantala shot from distance when Leicester won the ball back high up the pitch, the ball popped up and she was able to head it into O’Brien’s path. O’Brien cleverly nicked it round her marker and placed a shot beyond Nnadozie to half the deficit.

What did Leicester have left in the tank? As ever, there was plenty of effort but the quality was a little lacking on this occasion. In fact, Rantala’s initial shot and then O’Brien’s finish in the space of a few seconds were the only attempts Leicester had on the Brighton goal in the second half.

Rantala jarred her knee landing after a fair tackle and was withdrawn with ten minutes remaining, replaced by Nelly Las. The question was whether Leicester could get to injury time without conceding again before piling on some late pressure. The answer was no.

This time Olislagers found a way past Leitzig from the edge of the box, the German unsighted and unsightly when diving awkwardly at the near post, the ball fizzing well underneath her attempted save. With Leicester’s resolve broken, Brighton set about trying to put gloss on the scoreline. Substitute Rosa Kafaji shot just wide from distance before Seike finally got the goal she deserved, following up to nutmeg Leitzig after Maisie Symonds drew a parry with another long shot.

Leicester’s players trudged off the pitch well beaten, some perhaps wondering whether the outcome may have been different had injuries not played a familiar part. Janice Cayman and Missy Goodwin were both unavailable, while Noemie Mouchon was absent and unable to add a focal point to the attack.

Mouchon’s injury, so soon after a dazzling goal against Arsenal, is a real blow to a team that struggle to score at the best of times.

Only rock bottom Liverpool have scored fewer goals. Only West Ham have a worse goal difference. And although victory would have taken Leicester above Brighton, on this evidence there’s a clear gulf in class between the two sides.

Defeat leaves the Foxes four points above bottom place after Liverpool drew with champions Chelsea and West Ham beat Everton 3-1.

Next Sunday sees a League Cup clash at “home”, which this time means Meadow Lane in Nottingham, against Crystal Palace. Leicester top the group after two games and two wins, and will be looking once again to this competition to provide some timely confidence in front of goal.

After the international break, there follows a run of two home league games before Christmas against top half sides Manchester City and London City Lionesses. 2026 begins with a visit to Brisbane Road to face Tottenham, before the huge home clash with West Ham at the end of January. By then, perhaps reinforcements will have arrived to aid Passmoor’s hard-working troops.