Leicester City edged past Liverpool by a score of 1-0 in a Tuesday evening affair at the King Power.
Mo Salah missed a penalty in a goalless first half and the Reds were made to pay as Ademola Lookman scored midway through the second period for the game’s only goal. This marked the first time Leicester have won three home games on the trot in two years.
With only 48 hours between matches, the Leicester gaffer was once again forced to play the hand he was dealt. Fortunately, the hand included a few cards that weren’t available on Boxing Day: Kasper Schmeichel (C), Timothy Castagne, Daniel Amartey, Wilfred Ndidi, Luke Thomas, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Boubakary Soumare, Hamza Choudhury, James Maddison, Kelechi Iheanacho, and Jamie Vardy.
The match started better for the Foxes than the Boxing Day affair against Man City, but that is a low, low hurdle to clear. Leicester’s backline looked shaky but there were no serious threats on goal either so we’ll take it. There weren’t many opportunities going forward, so the match was largely a matter of absorbing pressure and then trying to break.
On the quarter-hour, the Reds had a golden opportunity to go ahead. With the ball pinging around in the penalty area, Ndidi attempted to challenge Mo Salah. There was contact and referee Michael Oliver pointed to the spot. The Egyptian took the spot-kick himself and made a mess of it, finding Schmeichel’s midriff. The ball bounced straight back to Salah, but he headed against the bar and the ball was cleared behind to safety.
The Foxes started to get back into it as Vardy and Madders both got behind the defence and saw their efforts from a tight angle blocked and drift wide, respectively.
The second half started much as the first ended with the match wide open but neither team was able to get a telling touch. Sadio Mane should have opened the scoring when put through by Diogo Jota, but he blasted over when one-on-one with Schmeichel.
Neither manager was well pleased with what they saw, so both made changes on just 55’. For the Foxes, Rodgers hauled off Choudhury and Iheanacho and introduced Ademola Lookman and Youri Tielemans. With Alexander-Arnold struggling defensively on the Leicester left, Lookman was deployed on that wing to try to take advantage.
It worked a treat almost immediately. Lookman won the ball in midfield and found Dewsbury-Hall. The local lad charged forward and slipped in Lookman, who’d continued his run. Trapped between the imposing figures of Joel Matip and Virgil van Dijk, he squeezed off a shot that beat Alisson at the near post, giving the Foxes a precious 1-0 lead which eventually became the decider.
