Injury-smashed Stoke City have been beaten 2-0 by runaway promotion favourites Leicester. Stoke, without nine players and with only two defenders available, pretty much parked the bus at the
Championship pacesetters – then parked another bus behind it. But Leicester still found a way through in each half thanks to Kelechi Iheanacho and Jamie Vardy and make it 10 wins out of 11 to start their probably one and only season out of the Premier League.
As for Stoke, they have 3 wins out of 11 and now sit in 21st just above the drop zone, as Leicester proved to be the biggest challenge that The Potters have faced this season with fast flowing attacking football that constantly threatened the Stoke goal.
The opening stages of the game were fairly one sided in possession as the home side completely dictated the play and controlled the tempo of the game. Anytime that Stoke got the ball they struggled to keep as Leicester’s pressure was high which made it incredibly hard for Stoke to create anything. The first real opportunity of the game fell to Leicester’s Iheanacho who headed just wide of the right post after a cross was floated into the box. Shortly after, Iheanacho made up for his wrong doings as the striker received the ball on the turn then slotted the ball into the bottom right corner giving the Foxes the lead.
Stoke’s only sight of the Leicester goal was from a corner which floated over defenders heads then onto Jordan Thompson’s, however, his header was high and wide. Stoke were lucky not to be
going in at half time having conceded more than one.
The second half reflected the first half as Leicester controlled the ball and shut down any sort of Stoke build up play. Travers was tested very early on in the second half as right winger Yunus looked for the bottom right corner from the edge of the box but Travers did well to palm it away. Towards the 70th minute, the game started to open up for both teams as there was chances at both end constantly.
Unfortunately for Stoke, this better suited Leicester as the home doubled their lead as the ball was played back to an unmarked Jamie Vardy who cooly slotted in from close range with his first touch of the game. Full time whistle blew and Leicester take the top league spot into the international break. As for Stoke they now sit in a worrying position going into the international break as they have a hard run of fixtures in front of them and sit in 21st in the league.
Manager Comments
Q: The fixture list doesn't get any easier does it, so have to make sure you come out firing?
AN: They will come out fighting. I certainly didn’t think that we got out worked or out fought. We gave everything we had in the game but they had more than we did.
Q: How highly do you rate this Leicester side?
AN: It’s difficult because when you've got your full team, you get a better feel of where they are and where you are, if that makes sense. But I don't think there's any question (of their quality). The minute you squeeze the space, we could hear the coach changing them and the minute we change, they got pace at the top end of the pitch and if you're going to squeeze a line and try to compress the game, Jamie Vardy is going to cause you all sorts of problems. They'll be one of
the best Championship teams in a long time, I think. Just look at the stadium, the fans and the players. They have got four England internationals. I don't think that or can’t remember if that has
happened before.
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