Again changes in the line-up, giving starts to Jamie Vardy, Wilfred Ndidi, and Luke Thomas. Kelechi Iheanacho missed the game through injury, and Victor Kristiansen and Tetê were left on the bench.
Everton had a good line-up with important players such as Seamus Coleman and Dominic Calvert-Lewin in there, as their momentum was set and showed from the start that they will not be taken for granted.
Daniel Iversen had to show his excellence early on, getting his hand on an Iwobi shot, as his presence becomes monumental and vital for this massive push for survival. He had no chance to save from a penalty by Calvert-Lewin. Leicester were 0-1 down after 15 minutes.
The quality in the team is there, and with the inclusion of Bouba Soumare alongside James Maddison and Youri Tielemans, you have players that can open defenses with clinical through balls finding Jamie Vardy, still having blistering pace and ready to act on whatever comes.
But instead of a forward scoring, Leicester leveled after 22 minutes, when a Faes header found Soyuncu inside the penalty box, a bit out of nowhere, but of course fantastic to see the ball passing the goalline behind Jordon Pickford.
Leicester pushed on and a breakdown in the middle of the park, after a massive wrong pass from Iwobi, made James Maddison eager to show his class with a clinical pass, finding Jamie Vardy, who was back to his best with a fantastic finish, brilliantly passing Jordon Pickford, before he shot the ball into the open net, Leicester were 2-1 up after 33 minutes.
Seamus Coleman was later in the half tackled by Bouba Soumare, and it looked bad for the Everton captain as he had to leave the field and also saw the first half drag out. into that stoppage time, Leicester came forward and when Michael Keane clearly handballed inside the penalty box, it was surprisingly James Maddison who stepped forward to take the penalty.
Maddison was eager to take the ball out of the hands of Youri Tielemans and strange to see such a massive situation just become a mess, without a clear indication from the manager in front who should take the penalty, and then it would have been settled, strange at this vital time in the season. James Maddison came forward, but Jordan Pickford had done his home lesson on penalties taken, and on his water bottle we could clearly see that he knew where Maddison would put his shot and fooled the Leicester playmaker, as he just stood still and made Maddison look silly and a massive chance to kill the game was missed by our most pivotal player. Surely Jamie Vardy should have taken the penalty, he has a ratio of 83% conversion, so Mr. Smith, this was not something from that special book of learning.
But again being 2-1 up was in a way too much, with Daniel Iversen showing his class as he starts to look fantastic, and the question is, why on earth did Brendan Rodgers wait for this to happen, this is a no-brainer, and please stop looking for a new goalkeeper, all links to this and that around Europe, is just a waste of time.
Coming out 2nd half Leicester and Everton both had their attempts, with Daniel Iversen again doing massive saves, one special again from a shot from distance, but later on had no chance to save Iwobi’s shot seeing Everton score 2-2 in the 54th minute.
The game waved a bit as both teams were through with chances, but going through the pictures afterward, 2-2 looked ok from a Leicester point of view, Everton might be the most disappointing.
This point was vital as Leicester climbed up and above both Leeds and Forest on goal difference. Games left vs. Fulham (A), Liverpool (H), Newcastle (A), and West Ham (H), are difficult to predict but survival looks possible, but still this performance at home was one must-win.
- Positives
- Cags showing grit and determination, scoring a goal, again a solid performance
- Coming back after again being 1-0 down, scoring on good opportunities
- Jamie Vardy scoring again, brilliant performance from the talisman
- Daniel Iversen with point winning performance
- The massive point, going above both Leeds and Forest
- Negatives
- James Maddison falling when he is needed at most, is disappointing to watch
- Losing momentum early on defensively
- Not able to convert massive chances and also not able to keep Everton in a distance second half
Player Ratings: Iversen 9, Castagne 6, Thomas 6, Soyuncu 7, Faes 6, Soumare 6, Tielemans 6, Barnes 5, Maddison 5, Vardy 7 Subs: Praet, Daka, Kristiansen
- Leicester City, Man of the Match
- Daniel Iversen
Match Stats (H/A)
- Possession: 55 / 45
- Corners: 2 / 9
- Shots on target: 6 / 8
- Fouls: 10 / 12
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