Well, the first half was dreadful. The second half was a bit better, featuring two good goals, some needle and West Brom parking their not insubstantial bus. One team was trying to play football, but their chief problem was that they weren’t very good at it. Iheanacho was totally anonymous and Okazaki will perhaps feel aggrieved he didn’t feature instead.
Thanks for joining me for this, you terrible, terrible masochists.
Full time: Leicester City 1-1 West Bromwich Albion
Fuchs launches a long ball to Slimani in the box, but he can’t get a header on target. And with that, Mike Dean puts this out of its misery.
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90 min + 4: West Brom are frustrating Leicester as they attempt to burst forward, getting feet in and stopping their fluency. But eventually Mahrez has a burst into the box - but sees only West Brom players waiting. He can’t find space for a shot.
90 min + 3: Barry and Ndidi have another tussle, which Barry gets the better of. Free kick to West Brom. King on for Iborra.
90min + 2: Vardy miscontrols the ball out on the left wing, allowing it to roll under his boots and into touch. There will be a last throw of the the dice from Shakespeare, he’s bringing on Andy King.
90 min +1: Krychowiak finds McClean in the box, all on his own. He fires a shot at goal but Chilwell arrives to get in its way.
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90 min: Leicester attempt to fizz the ball forwards, but there’s the usual resilience from West Brom. Five added minutes here, news of which is greeted with a cheer by the Leicester fans.
89 min: Mahrez plays a slide rule ball into Vardy int the box, but he can’t control it. The move breaks down with a Fuchs foul. It gives West Brom the chance to slow things down - they take a good minute over the free-kick.
86 min: Leicester patiently build, using their new 5-3-2 formation to attack West Brom with width. It’s patient buildup play before Mahrez finally puts in a wonderful ball for Slimani, but Hegazi is there to clear. If anyone is going to score a winner now, it feels like will be Leicester.
84 min: The mood at the King Power has changed completely. The crowd are loud and excited as their side pile on the pressure. Pulis responds by bringing on McAuley and McClean, the well known detective duo. Rodriguez and Chadli make way.
82 min: Fuchs rakes a long cross into the box and Slimani is close to getting on the end of it. Myhill leaps to claim though. A moment later, he is tested again as Vardy races onto a through ball. But the keeper is so injured, he can only roll the ball out for a throw in rather than kick long. Scenting blood, Maguire fires a long shot at him, which is punched behind for a corner. Real urgency to Leicester now.
GOAL! Leicester City 1-1 West Brom (Mahrez, 80)
Slimani nods back a cross to Mahrez, who is 12 yards out. He strokes the ball home with his right foot for his first goal of the season.
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77 min: Gibbs crosses from theleft and Rondon sticks his head in down low and is perhaps lucky that Maguire’s boot doesn’t catch him as the defender clears. Leicester immediately counter, but the move ends with Ndidi scuffing a shot wide from distance.
74 min: The ball falls to Ndidi on the edge of the box. “SHOOT,” shout the crowd, but he doesn’t and eventually Albrighton clumps a cross long and into touch. Icheancho off for Slimani, Simpson off for Chilwell as Shakespeare switches formation.
72 min: Leicester launch the ball into the box, prompting a bout of head tennis. Eventually, one of the Leicester attackers gets himself offside and Myhill, struggling to punch the ball clear, blows a sigh of relief.
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70 min: Albrighton and Fuchs combine well down the left, before finding Mahrez on the edge of the box. He can’t turn, though, and eventually has to settle for a corner.
69 min: Schmeichel looks rattled. He makes a good claim from a West Brom cros from the left wing, but then rolls the ball out badly to Albrighton, leaving the wing short. He has to dive into to a tackle and earns a yellow card. Chadli tkes a cunning, disguised free-kick, passing the ball to Krychowiak who hammers a shot into a defender.
67 min: Albrighton sets Mahrez free up the right but Hegazi cuts out the ball. Leicester, by hook or crook, plug away up the right wing before Ndidi puts in a loose ball and West Brom counter.
“Ha, ha! Yes!! There it is! Shot on target! Boom! Told you they could do it! Though I have to admit I never thought it would result in a goal! Good things come to those who wait. It’s times like these I feel sorry for all the non-Baggie supporting football fans,” JR in Illinois there.
64 min: That was a brilliant free-kick from Chadli: whip, flight and bend. He struck it from five or 10 yards outside the box, in a central-ish position. He cleared the wall with ease, but there may be a few questions to ask of Schmeichel who might have felt he could have done more. The goal it may not bode well for the rest of the match: cue West Brom going even deeper.
GOAL! Leicester City 0-1 West Bromwich Albion (Chadli, 63)
From the free-kick, Chadli lifts the ball over the wall and Schmeichel simply stands and watches the ball go into the net.
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61 min: It’s a West Brom corner, but it’s delayed by Fuchs and Rondon getting to know each other fairly intimately on the goalline. When the ball does come in, Leicester clear. But with half a chance to counterattack, Iheanacho overstretches and clatters Krychowiak. The striker is having a poor game - and now has a yellow card to remember it by.
59 min: Iborra wraps his legs around Rodriguez’s and knocks him flat on the ground. Frmo the free-kick, near the centre circle, West Brom meander around aimlessly, before Rodriguez crosses for Gibbs who can’t connect.
58 min: It’s gone a bit end-to-end, this - not in a quality way, but in a desperate, frenetic, hard-running but no real skill kind of way. Which is great! Myhill, though, is in trouble. He hoofs a clearance and limps off afterwards. It looks like he’s injured a hamstring,
56 min: Iheanacho tries to find Vardy in the box, when Mahrez was free on the right wing in space. There’s a pleasing amount of needle and edge to the match now, with a few tasty challenges going in. Morgan goes in on Rondon before Barry and Ndidi resume their bout. Needle is good.
“A while back you Guardian chaps and chapettes had the idea of anyone with less than a point a game should go down. Add less than a goal a game and I reckon we are in business. Nine of this current dross going down on that basis and two more hanging by the skin of their teeth,” emails John Little.
54 min: Ndidi takes a large chunk of Gareth Barry while also getting a bit of ball. Mike Dean shows him a yellow card.
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52 min: This looks worrying for West Brom. Myhill is down on the ground receiving attention from the physios. It looks like it was as a result of that collision with Vardy. He’s already their second choice keeper, and third choice keeper Palmer is as green as they come. For now, though, he’s OK to carry on.
50 min: Albrighton goes on a lovely jinking run into the box, then pulls the ball back to Mahrez on the penalty spot. He takes aim! And he fires it MILES over the bar while completely unmarked! GAH! No changes to either team in the second half, incidentally.
48 min: On seeing the Vardy and Myhill incident again, the keeper clearly realises he’s not going to get the ball so just runs into the striker. Yellow fair enough.
47 min: Mahrez rattles in the free-kick and the ball loops up into the air off a defender’s head. Maguire shoves Rondon out of the way, which takes some doing, and aims a header at goal - but Myhill tips it around the post.
46 min: Myhill comes rushing off his line as Vardy attempts to latch onto an underhit back pass. The pair collide nastily and both go down in a heap, just outside the area. It looked accidental to me, but Myhill gets a yellow card for it.
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Oh god! There’s a second half. And it’s starting now. WHY? What we have done to deserve this? West Brom get the torture under way.
“Based on the first eight games I figure there’ll be lots of competition for the bottom three this season. Some years I wish four or five teams would go down. Who are your early favourites?” asks Mike MacKenzie in London, Canada. As long as one of this lot goes down, so we’re not subject to this again, it’ll be fine.
“I’m looking forward to the possibility of a shot on target by the Baggies in the second half,” writes a hopelessly optimistic JR in Ilinois. “I really think there’s a good chance they could pull it off. Possibly Rondon could be the man for the job. Or maybe Phillips if he comes on as a sub. Hey, a guy can dream, right?”
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That half of footbal was awful. Absolutely awful. Forty-five minutes of sheer meh. That scarf below is the only thing that has happened. Corrie is on the other side. Watch that instead.
Discuss:
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PEEP, PEEP! Mahrez passes to Albrighton, who whisks a low cross across the face of goal. But Vardy can’t get a touch. Briefly, things light up at the end of the first half as Leicester sniff a goal, but just as quickly they peter out as Vardy commits a foul. And that’s half time. Simpson with the best chance of the half.
42 min: Simpson crosses deep into the West Brom box and finds Iborra. He mishits a shot into the ground, but it bounces up for Vardy four yards out. He’s jumps! He heads it! He nods it high! And Myhill knocks it behind for a corner. Oh.
40 min: Dawson has a chance to cross, with men waiting in the box, but instead passes backwards to Krychowiak, who splatters the ball high over the bar.
Good to see Tony Pulis sticking with his cap despite the strong wind here tonight. Could come off at any second....
— Ed Aarons (@ed_aarons) October 16, 2017
If it comes off, it will be the most exciting thing that’s happened so far.
38 min: Mahrez is awake! He finally has a run, cutting inside past Krychowiak, before being closed down. Still, it was something.
37 min: Rondon picks out Rodriguez, who is cantering into the box. But Harry Maguire is with him, matches him stride for stride and clears from around the penalty spot.
35 min: Simpson latches onto a ball headed clear by Hegazi. He catches it perfectly, hammering a shot through a crowd of players from the edge of the box - but Myhill is equal to it. That’s the closest we’ve come to a goal.
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Meanwhile, it’s windy in Whitchurch.
I swear a left wing cross into the penalty box has just gone out for a throw to us... on the HALFWAY LINE!!! 0-0
— Whitchurch Alport FC (@alportfc) October 16, 2017
33 min: Chadli strides down the left, finds the overlapping Gibbs who rattles a low cros into Rodriguez in the area, but Fuchs is alert and removes the danger. Leicester go on the attack, with Mahrez shaping to shoot a couple of times but not finding the space before West Brom can eventually clear.
31 min: A rare burst of activity from West Brom ends with Livermore hoofing a high ball straight into touch.
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29 min: Leicester counter after a rare WBA attack. Albrighton strolls forward with the ball but then plays a long, hopeful pass to Iheanacho that he can do little with. A moment later Vardy attempts to find Iheanacho again, but is ‘fouled’ by Evans in the process (there was minimal contact). From the free-kick, Fuchs crosses and Myhill claims comfortably.
28 min: The Vardy and Iheanacho combination is also pretty flat, with the former Manchester City striker largely anonymous so far.
26 min: Pulis has switched Hegazi and Evans, incidentally, given how much joy Vardy was having against the former earlier in the match. Seems to be working as Vardy has quietened down a bit now.
25 min: That’s a pretty awful passage of football. West Brom lose possession from a throw-in - twice - then Leicester hoof the ball forward, lose possession, and West Brom pass back to Myhill. Best league in the world.
23 min: Simpson tries his luck with a long ball into the box, it falls for Albrighton, now on the right, but he can’t get a good cross or shot in.
22 min: Ndidi carts a cros into the box, but he hits it behind Vardy who can’t arrange his body to deal with it. A better ball from the Leicester midfielder and that would have been dangerous.
21 min: Leicester have had 60% of the ball - rare for them - but West Brom are so deep, and so determined just to ruin things, that they’re struggling to find a way through.
20 min: Albrighton does finally win a foul as Dawson goes through him. Somehow, Leicester lose possession from it and West Brom go on the attack. Chadli finds himself with the ball having popped up on the right, but his cross is a tame one.
19 min: Albrighton finds himself on the receiving end of Chadli’s boots, but Mike Dean waves play on and the Leicester wing is back on his feet soon enough. Leicester continue to pass the ball about between themselves, never quite looking like they’ve got a plan for how to get it through the West Brom back four.
17 min: Rondon finds himself with the ball near the corner flag. He pulls it back to Gibbs, who fizzes a pass To Chadli. He has a crack, but mishits it. Still, was the most dangerous West Brom attack so far.
16 min: The early pattern is that Leicester are very much on the front foot, with West Brom sitting back and happy to let them have the ball. Fuchs finds Vardy after a spell of Leicester passing, but he loses the ball as he attempts to turn into the box.
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14 min: Iborra finds Iheanacho, who picks out Albrighton. He clatters a shot at goal - but it’s blocked by a West Brom defender a long way out.
12 min: Leicester pass the ball around the back, before Maguire steps into midfield and finds Mahrez outside the area. He tries to fashion an opening for Albrighton to cross, but West Brom shut things down. Leicester build again.
10 min: Chadli and Gibbs work well up the left, crossing into the middle. There’s a brief shout of handball, from the Leicester players against Rodriguez, but Mike Dean is unconcerned.
8 min: Mahrez takes it again, and it’s a much better cross - the ball fizzes between keeper and the West Brom defenders, inviting someone to stick head or toe on it. Nobody does, however, and West Brom can breathe again.
8 min: Vardy and Hegazi tussle again, this time in the form of a hand-off in the Leicester striker’s face. Hegazi gets a yellow card for his troubles. Another free-kick just outside the area.
7 min: But Vardy gets the better of Hegazi the next time they clash. The Leicester striker goes scootling up the left at pace and the West Brom defender lunges in to hack him down. Free kick 10 yards from the touchline, taken by Mahrez and cleared with ease by West Brom.
5 min: Vardy attempts to put Hegazi under some pressure, but the West Brom centre back holds him off well and the ball rolls out for a goal kick. Myhill, starting in place of the injured Foster, hoofs it forward
3 min: Rondon and Rodriguez ping the ball about between them on the edge of the D, but Leicester City have four men around the ball and can clear.
2 min: Schmeichel takes a free kick a long way out of his area, pumping the ball forward to Mahrez who cannot control it. West Brom get hold of the ball, allowing Wes Morgan to scythe Kieron Gibbs down for a free kick on the halfway line.
We’re off! Leicester, in blue, get things started and more or less immediately lose possession. They win it back eventually and attempt to build from the back - to no avail.
The players are in the tunnel, the mascots re looking around nervously, and various people are clapping their hands exuberantly and bellowing ‘Come on boys!’. All of which means we’re about four minutes from kick-off.
So Shakespeare plays a 4-4-2 with Vardy and Iheanacho up front together. He says the onus is with his side to be attacking, but to watch for West Brom counterattacks.
Pulis appears to be playing 4-3-3 and Chadli seems fit to start. Pulis says he has been desperate to get him in the team and is hoping he’ll work well with Gibbs up the left.
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Teams
Leicester City: Schmeichel, Simpson, Maguire, Morgan, Fuchs, Ndidi, Iborra, Mahrez, Albrighton, Iheanacho, Vardy.
Subs: Chilwell, Gray, King, Hamer, Amartey, Slimani, Okazaki.
West Brom: Myhill, Dawson, Hegazi, Evans, Gibbs, Livermore, Krychowiak, Barry, Chadli, Rodriguez, Rondon.
Subs: Nyom, Yacob, Phillips, Brunt, McClean, McAuley, Palmer.
Ref: Mike Dean
Preamble
There are those managers who use their pre-match pressers to get into the mind of the opposition. There are those who use the platform as an excuse to mouth off, to lay traps, or simply to sell the game. And there are managers like Tony Pulis who, well … don’t. The best he managed in the buildup to this match was this: “On Monday night I’m looking forward to going over there to play in what we know will be a competitive game.”
Thanks Tony.
Still, he must have something as West Brom are firmly mid-table despite not having won a match in their past five league games. They’ve been very Pulissy. This season they’ve scored six goals in seven games which keeps them bang on their just-shy-of-a-goal-a-game trend: in their last 317 Premier fixtures, they’ve scored 316 goals. This may not be a goal-fest.
It’s unlikely to be a possession-fest either, these two sides have the lowest stats for possession in the Premier League this season. What we’re about to feast upon may simply be two sides furiously passing the ball to each other, then getting it straight back again.
Leicester have only won once in the Premier League this season (a 2-0 win at home to Brighton midway through August) in amongst a run of tough fixtures that has included Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool. They’ve picked up a couple of points with draws to Huddersfield and Bournemouth but know that matches against teams like West Brom offer them a chance to get out of the bottom three and go on something of a run. Their next league matches are against Swansea, Everton and Stoke and they could do with going into them in something approaching form.
“The school report will say we could do better, I don’t hide behind that,” said the manager Craig Shakespeare. “I see our quality and commitment every day in training. The hardest thing is sometimes translating that into the game, but the work ethic I will never doubt.”
Shakespeare made over 100 appearances for West Brom as a player and spent nearly 10 years there as a coach, however Leicester haven’t beaten WBA at home for 23 years. “Maybe I won’t tell the lads,” honked Shakespeare over the weekend. “Sometimes you have these little quirks against teams. Centre forwards have these quirks where they always score against a certain team. Who knows what it’s about?”
Jamie Vardy, Wilfred Ndidi and Ben Chilwell are all available but Robert Huth and Matty James remain out. Nacer Chadli, James Morrison and Hal Robson-Kanu are all doubts for West Brom.
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