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Leicester City enjoyed a numerical advantage for the best part of 80 minutes but failed to capitalise as they slipped to a 1-1 draw with Southampton on Friday.
An offside Kyle Walker-Peters strike got the game off to a hot start, but the excitement quickly faded when Jannik Vestergaard was sent off for ‘denying a clear goalscoring opportunity’ when he tackled Jamie Vardy in the tenth minute – despite the fact he clearly got the ball before catching the striker’s ankle. It quickly became attack vs defence, but Southampton held firm until the break.
Leicester slowly grew into the game after the interval, but it was Southampton who took the lead on the hour mark after James Ward-Prowse fired home from the penalty spot following a handball from Kelechi Iheanacho. The Nigerian atoned for his error soon after by whipping in a cross for Jonny Evans, who headed Leicester back into the game.
Brendan Rodgers’ side pushed hard for a winner, with Jamie Vardy and Wilfred Ndidi both wasting good chances, but Southampton held on for a hard-fought point.
Alex McCarthy (GK) – 8/10 – Had a very busy evening but dealt with everything that came his way. Made some excellent saves from Perez and Vardy after the break.
Kyle Walker-Peters (RB) – 8/10 – After his strike was correctly ruled out, Walker-Peters had to focus on his defending, and he was excellent. Made a superb last-ditch header to deny Vardy late on.
Jan Bednarek (CB) – 7/10 – Had to step up in Vestergaard’s absence and did an incredible job. Forced Leicester out wide and gobbled up their crosses with ease.
Jannik Vestergaard (CB) – 2/10 – A little unfortunate to be sent off but should have known better in today’s game. It was his error which caused the whole thing in the first place.
Jack Stephens (LB) – 7/10 – Some fans were scared to see Stephens at left-back, but he did fantastically. Clearly knew he needed to dig in to deal with Castagne and his work rate was obviously infectious.
Nathan Tella (RM) – 5/10 – Had a chance to open the scoring early on but was withdrawn after 15 minutes to cope with the Vestergaard red card. Hardly even broke a sweat.
James Ward-Prowse (CM) – 7/10 – Had to go against his attacking instincts and dig in at the back. Struggled with Leicester’s three-man midfield but caused enough problems to keep the Foxes’ at bay. Took his penalty excellently.
Stuart Armstrong (CM) – 7/10 – Was in a similar boat to Ward-Prowse but looked a little more comfortable. Didn’t win all of his duels but won enough to bide his defenders enough time to set up properly.
Takumi Minamino (LM) – 3/10 – Didn’t do enough defensively and definitely didn’t offer enough on Southampton’s rare forays forwards. Meant Stephens had to do two men’s work.
Che Adams (ST) – 6/10 – Obviously faced an uphill battle but put himself about when the ball came near him. Leicester looked comfortable at the back but Adams did his best to shake things up. Ran the channels like a pro.
Nathan Redmond (ST) – 4/10 – Hundreds of tweets criticising Hasenhuttl for hooking Tella instead of Redmond tells you all you need to know about his performance.
Mohammed Salisu – 7/10 – Introduced early on after Vestergaard’s dismissal and was impressive on the whole.
Ibrahima Diallo – 6/10
Dan N’Lundulu – N/A
Kasper Schmeichel (GK) – 6/10 – A training exercise for Schmeichel. Had to be alert for a couple of early chances but spent the remaining 80 minutes as a spectator. Couldn’t get near Ward-Prowse’s spot kick.
Wesley Fofana (CB) – 6/10 – Had a solid first half and enjoyed keeping the ball away from Adams and Redmond. Taken off at half-time to give Leicester another man in attack.
Caglar Soyuncu (CB) – 5/10 – A few sloppy errors when Southampton made their way forwards. Perhaps lost his concentration after spending so long watching on.
Jonny Evans (CB) – 7/10 – Never looked threatened as he battled to keep Southampton’s long balls away. Even impressed with some long passes of his own and took his equalising goal with real class.
Timothy Castagne (RM) – 5/10 – Given a lot of responsibility on the wing, Castagne didn’t do enough. He got into a lot of good positions but his crosses were average and he never really threatened.
Wilfred Ndidi (CM) – 6/10 – A little wasted at the base of Leicester’s midfield, given how little Southampton attacked. Was decent enough going forward but probably should have been replaced by somebody more creative.
Youri Tielemans (CM) – 5/10 – Tried to charge forward a lot but ended up stepping on Iheanacho’s toes a little too often. Saw a lot of the ball but struggled to pick a killer pass behind Southampton’s deep line.
Luke Thomas (LM) – 4/10 – Leicester needed Thomas to do so much down the left but he consistently disappointed. Was completely overwhelmed by the excellent Walker-Peters and didn’t look like he had any ideas.
James Maddison (AM) – 5/10 – Gave up trying to unlock Southampton’s defence and instead opted to try bag a screamer every time he got within 25 yards. Spent too long trying to be the hero.
Kelechi Iheanacho (ST) – 7/10 – Iheanacho at the heart of everything good for Leicester? Imagine my surprise.
Jamie Vardy (ST) – 5/10 – Power has clearly shifted in Leicester’s attack. Vardy was isolated too often and was shunted out to the wing at times to make space for Iheanacho. Should have netted a winner late on but drove his effort right at McCarthy.
Ayoze Perez – 6/10
Marc Albrighton – 6/10
For more from Tom Gott, follow him on Twitter!
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