Match Report: Leicester City 5 – 0 Southampton – Fosse Posse

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Fatawu hat trick. That’s the tweet.

By


Jake Lawson



@karmadrome





Apr 23, 2024, 3:18pm PDT

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Match Report: Leicester City 5 – 0 Southampton

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Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images

Recap:

A late flurry saw

Leicester City

dismantle

Southampton

by a score of 5-0 at the King Power on Tuesday evening. Abdul Fatawu gave the Foxes a half-time advantage of 1-0 with a (possibly offside) strike midway through the half. Wilfred Ndidi doubled the advantage fifteen minutes into the second period, and then the floodgates opened. A Jamie Vardy sandwiched by Fatawu’s second and third in the span of six minutes provided the final margin in what was surely the most enjoyable match of the season…so far.

Fatawu was the Man of the Match. Three goals and an assist make this one a no-brainer. In this kind of match, it’s pretty fair to say “Everyone was great, no one was poor.” Both wingers had their fullback in their back pocket, which made for a long day for the opposing side. I’d like to spare a thought for our most underrated player: Jamie Vardy. His training regimen might not be “conventional,” but it works. You don’t see many players his age chasing every lost cause and barging into defenders in their second start in four days. Oh, and he now has 18 goals in 18 starts, which is…good.

Abdul Fatawu is like Riyad Mahrez if he never broke my heart

— michael (@mef_57)

April 23, 2024

He’s 20, Michael. Give it time. Also, it’s an option, not an obligation, to buy.

The devastating attack will be the story, and for good reason, but it’s not the

whole

story. The Leicester defence seldom looked challenged in putting up their first clean sheet in the league since early March. The high press did a lot of the hard work, but there was no getting through the back three or four (Enzo, you could make this easier, ya know?).

If it felt like Vardy and company were rolling back the clock, well, no wonder. We had on 34% of the possession, but we outshot the Saints 17-6, with 6 of ours on target to their 0. Somewhere, hopefully on a sunny beach with an Aperol spritz in his hand, Claudio Ranieri is smiling. I know Maresca doesn’t love counterattacking football, but if he didn’t love today’s performance? He’s just not a Leicester man.

The victory gives the Foxes 94 points from 44 matches. Oddly, that’s not yet enough to guarantee automatic promotion, but it’s getting really close. I won’t go through all the scenarios, but

Leeds

are on 90 points from 44 and Ipswich are on 89 from 43. Crucially, this big win now gives us a 4-goal advantage over Leeds in terms of goal differential and 15 over the Tractor Boys. We

should

prevail in any tiebreaker.

Next Monday, we visit Deepdale to face Preston North End. Then, on Saturday the 4th, we host Blackburn Rovers. After that? Here’s hoping there is no “after that” as any additional matches would mean we missed out on automatic promotion and have to endure the playoffs. I am already on blood pressure medication. Please let there be no “after that.”

Lineups:

Leicester City: Mads Hermansen, Ricardo Pereira (Hamza Choudhury 64’), Jannik Vestergaard (Conor Coady 84’), Wout Faes, James Justin, Wilfred Ndidi (Dennis Praet 82’), Harry Winks, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Stephy Mavididi, Abdul Fatawu (Kasey McAteer 84’), Jamie Vardy (C) (Patson Daka 82’)

Southampton: Alex McCarthy, Jan Bednarek, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, James Bree, Kyle Walker-Peters, Shea Charles, Joe Rothwell, Joe Aribo, Che Adams, Adam Armstrong, David Armstrong, David Brooks

Key Moments and Notes:

1’- It looks like KDH on the right and Ndidi on the left. I haven’t loved our performances when those two swap sides. It seems to reduce the effectiveness not just of the two #8s, but the wingers as well.

10’- Close! Fatawu cuts in from the right and beats his man all ends up. He gets a clear sight of the goal, but his effort is directly at McCarthy.

12’- Close! Ndidi cuts in from the right wing and tries to curl it inside the far post. It’s travelling, it beats the keeper, but it’s just wide. It’s all Leicester right now. Maybe I was worried about nothing…

20’- A cross from Fatawu is just about kept in by Mavididi. McCarthy can’t hold it and the ball floats across the face of the goal. It’s directly to Bednarek, but Vardy goes goblin-mode and barges through the Southampton man. Nothing comes of it, but the crowd roar in approval.

24’- GOAL! Adams wipes out Faes on the halfway line. Everyone pauses for the whistle, but the referee plays advantage. KDH screams for the ball and receives it in the centre of the Soton half. He plays a through ball to Fatawu, who might be offside, but the flag stays down. The Ghana man just has to beat McCarthy and beat him he does.

Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images

35’- It’s been scruffy since the goal. As our Tanner noted, both teams look tired and both used a lot of energy in the opening quarter of the match.

41’- Ricardo tries to pick out Vardy with a Fuchs-esque pass with the outside of his boot. Bednarek puts it out for a corner, and the corner comes to nothing. I don’t know why I both to report that anymore. We offer very little threat from corners.

44’- A baffling bit of refereeing as Ricardo tries to clear a ball and scuffs it badly. Adams tries to escort it behind for a corner and the offside flag goes up. No explanation for that one.

HALF-TIME: Leicester City 1 – 0 Southampton

46’- We’re back underway at the King Power. Leicester kick-off and immediately turn it over deep in their own half, but the Saints cannot take advantage.

52’- Hermansen comes to claim a floated cross and…misses it. Fortunately, Ricardo is right behind him and chests the ball away. Phew.

56’- Close! Armstrong receives a pass behind the City defence. He turns and shoots, but he can’t beat Hermansen. It wouldn’t have counted anyway as he was a good five yards offside.

62’- GOAL! A perfect KDH ball into Vardy should tapped to Fatawu, but it slices out to Mavidi instead. He stands up a cross, steams in and plants a bullet past McCarthy. Leicester City 2 – 0 Southampton

Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images

64’- Hamza Choudhury is on for Ricardo, who has taken a beating tonight. Like always. We owe that man a lifetime of medical support.

70’- The Foxes are tearing Southampton apart right now. I doubt it’ll end 2-0.

74’- GOAL! Oh my. Fatawu has the ball on the wing, strolls inside unopposed, and curls a beaut inside the far post. Just outside the area, that one. This kid’s a bit special, isn’t he?

79’- GOAL! Fatawu finds Vardy’s run across the six-yard box and the

GOAT

smashes it home with his first touch. The 37-year-old is still chasing every ball in his second start in 4 days, much to the delight of the supporters. Not that I really needed to add that last bit.

Watching Jamie Vardy, with the captain’s armband on, gesturing and dictating every play to his teammates, pressing every Southampton possession, really is a joy to watch

#LCFC

— Nick Goldsmith (@NickEGoldsmith)

April 23, 2024

81’- GOAL! Vestergaard clears the ball to KDH, who leads a 4-on-3 break. He slips it to Vardy in space on the left. You’d be the house on him to shoot, but he squares it for Fatawu to complete his hat trick.

82’- Dennis Praet and Patson Daka come on for Vardy and Ndidi. Maresca’s obviously saving the final substitution for…you-know-who.

87’- Maresca introduces Kasey McAteer and Conor Coady for Vestergaard and Fatawu. Thunderous applause breaks out, and deservedly so.

88’- Kyle Walker-Peters, making perhaps his first positive contribution of the match, whips in a cross that evades Hermansen. Armstrong is ready to pounce, but Coady makes a vital intervention and heads it over the bar.

90’+4- Harwood-Bellis makes a petulant challenge on Praet, going in late and studs-first into the Belgian’s ankle. In a world where VAR exists, it’s a straight red. Of course, VAR probably would have ruled out our first goal, too.

FULL-TIME: Leicester City 5 – 0 Southampton

FOX FORCE FIVE!

#lcfc


#usfoxes


pic.twitter.com/jRvB2cJWwk

— New York Foxes (@NewYorkFoxes)

April 23, 2024

“I understood that reference.”

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