Leicester City 4 Plymouth Argyle 0: Home and hosed before injury time
As the clock reached the 90th minute, the family stand was sparsely populated and the away end was continuing a hundredth rendition of a chant. Was this a humbling loss to one of the division’s lower lights? No. Rather, it was the regulation victory we’d all craved.
It’s been a while since we managed to punish a side for their errors. Victories have been harder, tougher and less convincing. Admittedly, I’ve been critical of the inability to convert possession to chances. I wanted to see us combine the quality of the squad and truly beat someone.
A lot of the City fanbase wanted to see Patson Daka given the chance to stake a claim for the 9 role that neither Kelechi Iheanacho or Jamie Vardy have made their own. Enzo had mentioned there were doubts and it was the striker role where they were located.
Thankfully that desired victory arrived. Plymouth Argyle rolled into town, their supporters no longer throwing about Holloway pound notes but bringing their biggest away following to this parish. We’d been warned that they like to play their own game rather than alter for opposition. Helpful, because that played in our favour.
A handy early leg-up is helpful too. Provided by Argyle’s ex-Arsenal centre half, Julio Pleguezuelo. He thundered into winning a header above Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and then tried to repeat it with his feet on Stephy Mavididi. Tripped, Mavididi picked himself up to squeeze the penalty past Michael Cooper.
Quite an occasion for Cooper, whose parents, both from Leicester, are supporters of the club but moved to Exeter. It threatened to be an eye-watering day with a barrage of chances for City. Daka somehow missed from two yards out. Abdul Fatawu with Cooper to beat, chose to square it in front of Wilfred Ndidi, but it was too far in front of him.
Then a period set in which had me considering if this match report was going to be the good, the bad and the ugly of Leicester City. Overconfidence and overplaying began to play into nerves. Suddenly Plymouth had multiple half-openings, and finally that chance that teams at this level seem to miss rather than convert. Mustapha Bundu fluffed his one-on-one chance when played in.
A common criticism has been the slow second half starts. This week, Enzo Maresca has been rather open in his tactical set-up, with a well-publicised ‘masterclass’ on the website Coaches Voice, and a Q&A at LCFC in the week.
One of the key points he stressed was the aim of pulling an opposition centre-back out of position. His best example yet for the second goal. Hermansen bypassed his defenders and midfielders to go long. Fatawu won the race onto the long ball and squared it around the defender for Daka to comfortably score.
Plymouth rocked now - their desire to play front foot first was coming undone. Hamza Choudhury won the ball off ex-Leicester Callum Wright, transferred onto Mavididi who feinted and chopped before making it three.
Then it was four, with Ndidi becoming that goalscoring midfielder again. A really clever angled finish with Daka the provider.
Enzo took a chance then to mix it up. Tom Cannon for his debut showed nice touches but equally is not quite on the same wavelength as his team mates. Marc Albrighton performed that role, which has been increasingly effective, where he belittles his age with intelligence.
We also got the less-spotted Dennis Praet. A league debut for Ben Nelson who looked very assured, and a return of the ‘Ben Marshall’ chant.
By this point the sting had gone and the scene of the opening paragraph played out. Rather disappointing for our most emphatic home performance. Another game ticked off, it rolls on. The fixtures of the top four in the next few weeks will ensure it’s going to be an interesting and intense period.
12 Days of Christmas at The Bridge
For the past 10 years, The Bridge Homelessness to Hope has served a 3-course Christmas Dinner with all the trimmings to hundreds of people in Leicester who are experiencing homelessness.
This year, they want to go one better and offer their guests (service users) not just one day of celebrations but 12 days of festive events over the month of December.
If you’re enjoying The Fosse Way, please consider donating to The Bridge’s Christmas appeal:
