After this match it was hard to know which stretched credibility further: Claudio Ranieri’s claim that he did not notice the 30,000 people in the stadium wearing Jamie Vardy masks, or the fact that Leicester City are the English champions.
The last time Leicester hosted Everton, in May, they were presented with the Premier League trophy; here all that was on display was a petty public relations stunt and a sad contrast between the title winners of last season and this Leicester side. Everton did not need to excel to claim their first away win since September.
Everton finished looking like accomplished travellers but overall this was a low-quality contest that made for particularly painful viewing for supporters of the home side. That included Vardy, who sat in the stands as he began his three-match suspension for his red card against Stoke City. Leicester had been so aggrieved at the Football Association’s rejection of an appeal against that ban that the club arranged for masks of their striker to be handed out before kick-off. Some kind of protest? Ranieri said he knew nothing about it. That, at least, was wise.
Vardy’s punishment must have felt particularly severe in view of the calibre of play he had to watch. The first 45 minutes were wretched, amounting to a late but compelling entry for the worst half of football in 2016. Everton were especially pallid initially and must have reinforced Ronald Koeman’s eagerness to bring in new blood during the January transfer window.
Koeman’s side improved in the second period, however, finally summoning the wit to take advantage of the fact Leicester had been forced to deploy a weakened defence because of the bans of Robert Huth and Christian Fuchs. The home team’s replacements were a veteran, the 36‑year‑old centre-back Marcin Wasilewski, and a novice, the 20-year-old Ben Chilwell. The latter performed well but the former’s lack of pace alongside Wes Morgan in central defence was exposed by Everton in the 51st minute.
All it took was a long punt over the home defence by the visiting goalkeeper, Joel Robles. Kevin Mirallas set off in pursuit of it, easily outrunning the lumbering centre‑backs. Kasper Schmeichel was unable to prevent the Belgian from firing Everton into the lead.
That was Everton’s first strike on goal in the match. Their only previous attempt in the general direction of the target, a feeble header by Ramiro Funes Mori after a cross by Mirallas, was so inoffensive that most statisticians are unlikely to have recorded it as a shot.
Leicester had gone only a little closer, Daniel Amaratey forcing a routine save from Robles in the 10th minute with a respectable shot from 20 yards after a neat exchange with Shinji Okazaki. There was a grievous lack of creativity from both sides.
Ranieri tried to change that at half-time by replacing introducing Danny Drinkwater for Okazaki. After Everton took the lead and began to grow in confidence Ranieri threw on Riyad Mahrez, too. Of his decision to omit from the starting lineup the Premier League player of the year last season, the manager later said: “He’s not in good form and I want to stimulate him. He must give more for the team.”
Leicester supporters were also in the mood for telling home truths. They booed Ranieri’s third substitution, not because they had anything against the new arrival, Leonardo Ulloa, but because the man he replaced, Demarai Gray, had been Leicester’s brightest attacker. Ranieri said the switch was made for the sake of team balance. Ulloa’s header within moments of arriving was easily saved by Robles. That was the closest Leicester came to infiltrating Everton’s three-man defence.
Everton controlled the game as it wore on, with Tom Davies a vibrant midfield presence after his introduction midway through the second half. Idrissa Gueye should have made certain of victory in the 82nd minute but shot over the bar from close range after a low pass across goal by Romelu Lukaku. In the 90th minute Lukaku did the job himself, racing on to another long ball forward before outmuscling Morgan, outwitting Wasilewski and finishing smartly. What began as dreary fare ended up as a highly satisfying trip for Koeman’s team.
