Leicester 3-1 Bournemouth Report – By Simon Mack

Leicester City 3-1 Bournemouth

King Power Stadium

31^st August 2019 15:00

Attendance: 31,613

The heavens opened around King Power Stadium just prior to kick off on what was a typical British summer’s day. Some of the crowd may have been a tad soggy as this one got underway, but for the foxes this game was far from a damp squib.

City Manager Brendan Rodgers rotated his pack with Albrighton coming into the side and Harvey Barnes keeping his place in the starting eleven from the midweek Carabao Cup tie away to Newcastle. Wilfred Ndidi and Ben Chilwell also came into the team both returning from minor injury.

From the first whistle this encounter had a different feel to the goalless draw against Wolves that had been the only other home league action to date, and in the early exchanges this match was mixing all the ingredients to conjure up an afternoon feast.

A high tempo, tenacious and passionate affair, and both sides left nothing in the dressing room come the final blow on referee Peter Banke’s whistle.

Ndidi did well to break up Bournemouth’s early forays forward, and despite having little game time so far this season Mark Albrighton looked bright along the right. But the adventurous cherries were unpicked majestically by Ben Chilwell in the 12^th minute as a Bournemouth attacked fizzled out the England left back played a stunning ball over the top splitting the cherries defence in two and the sublime rocket that is Jamie Vardy left his markers for dead, spotting the keeper off his life let the ball bounce just once and with an assured and sublime flick of his foot the ball flew like an arrow into the far right corner over the hapless Ramsdale from 25 yards.

As the game got underway again the open and passionate nature of the match resumed. It was clear that Bournemouth had not requested that their driver reverse their luxurious 4 wheeled method of travel to King Power in front of the goal today, and at times the cherries were a little over zealous in their endeavour.

Three minutes later the match was back on level terms when Callum Wilson’s run broke him free of the defensive shackles around him and he latched onto a decent pass from Ryan Fraser and sent the ball home.

Wilson painted a lively and cheeky figure during this encounter, sparring with Vardy at city set pieces and having the odd ‘incident’ with city skipper Schmeichel, but all seemed to be in honest if passionate spirit, and the cherries played in their usual technically organised, compact and spirited nature throughout this tie.

The slick machine that is Leicester City continued to function in a mode that proved Rodgers knows what he’s doing with his tweaks under the city bonnet, and James Maddison nearly got the foxes back in the lead from a Tielemans header, and soon after Vardy went close again. And it was that man Vardy that worked his magic again as a creator this time. The evergreen and sublime striker just doesn’t give up, and his tenacious, skilful efforts just inside the box resulted in a low and powerful cross that Youri Tielemans managed to guide inside the post with a deft touch just before half time.

With the foxes now in the lead the second half sprit being shown by the home side was outstanding. As a fan this was a match that had so much to applaud from the foxes that your hands became red, but as this game revealed its story your heart also flew as this committed, talented side unpicked their opposition in enthralling fashion.

Just before the hour a city move was ensuing mid-way into the cherries half when Youri Tielemans attempted to shield the ball from its suitor Callum Wilson. The resulting contact left Wilson rolling around the King Power turf in agony, and treatment was ushered on by the referee. Tielemans immediate reaction toward the referee informed you that he was afraid of retribution from the officials, and an agonising wait as ‘VAR review’ flashed up on the scoreboards ultimately ended with no penalty for the Belgian international.

Rodgers 2^nd half game management once again displayed the technical nouse and skill of the Leicester boss. Albrighton was withdrawn for Demari Gray, and soon after Harvey Barnes made way for Hamza Choudhury, who had signed a new contract with the foxes the day before.

The foxes kept working and weaving at their opponents and in the 73^rd minute the game was put beyond doubt when some tenacious work form James Maddison in the box fed the ball to Youri Tielemans who threaded the sublime Vardy in again and his deft touch saw the ball find the corner of the cherries net.

Christian Fuchs was introduced for James Maddison late on, and with city 2 goals up the game was well controlled and seen out by Leicester City as a victory as enjoyable and satisfying as we’ve seen so far this season.

This match up once again was a shift change from those that had gone before. Not only did it feel like Leicester City had gone up another notch in terms of quality of performance, in addition this game revealed Brendan Rodgers tactical capabilities, game management, and intelligence at using his squad to its most effective deploy as each match and opposition comes along.

We are not going to see the same system or the same team let alone the same tactics week in week out, and as a result the performances from the players will also ebb and flow as the roles they are being asked to undertake adapt.

In this game Jamie Vardy was simply outstanding; Fit, motivated, hugely passionate and at his absolute best. Bendan Rodgers has said it’s a dream to work with the evergreen city number 9 and it’s clear that those feelings are mutual and the foxes talisman looks as bright as he ever has throughout his exceptional career with the club.

As city grow and improve under their inspirational manager it is quite clear that in this form they are a threat to the European spots this season, and with other ‘established’ top 6 sides slipping up here and there if Leicester can perform like this then who would doubt they can achieve their goal and be playing in Europe next season.

Simon’s player ratings:

Schmeichel: 7 Superb save late on and as always passionate, vocal and motivational in his captaincy.

Ricardo: 7 A different game today with Albrighton in front of him playing wide for much of the game, but as always defensively on point and tireless in going forward.

Evans: 8 The experienced centre half’s game management and organisation is always key to the city defence and he’s not scared to put his body on the line.

Söyüncü: 9 Joint MOTM He was majestic in this game; Passionate, dedicated, tireless and hugely skilled. An improvement on Harry Maguire in this form. Outstanding.

Chilwell: 7 Back from injury and still not quite found his feet completely yet this season but improving and his pass for Vardy’s first goal was superb.

Ndidi: 7 Broke up a lot today and likes to get us going again. The insurance policy all teams would want in their team.

Albrighton: 7 This man is tireless and hardworking without fault. Not had much game time to date and linked up well with Ricardo and Tielemans on several occasions.

Tielemans: 7.5 Took his goal well, set up Vardy for his second and was passionate in his endeavour both with and without the ball.

Maddison: 7 A different role for Maddison today with Rodgers altered selection. Battled hard and as always did absolutely everything he could in a city shirt.

Barnes: 6.5 Having shone last week this was not quite up to the same high standard.

Vardy: 9 Joint MOTM Just sensational; Lethal in front of goal and tireless in his work. He will still be talked about by city fans in 30 years’ time as one of the clubs all-time greatest ever players, and today’s performance embodied every reason why that will be the case. Incredible.

Substitutes:

Gray: 7 Looked bright and potentially handy as an impact player

Choudhury / Fuchs No rating