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Leicester City player ratings v Chelsea amid calamitous Faes moment with El Khannouss impressing
Leicester City were outclassed by Chelsea on Enzo Maresca’s return to the King Power Stadium to leave Steve Cooper’s side at risk of falling into the bottom three.
Bar five minutes at the end of the first half, City were second-best throughout, and were deservedly defeated, Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez scoring for the visitors, with the consolation coming through Jordan Ayew’s 95th-minute penalty. It means City have now lost four of their last five matches in all competitions.
Another home defeat will not help Cooper’s bid to win over disgruntled supporters and there were a smattering of boos at full-time. The manager could see his side drop into the relegation zone if results go against them this weekend.
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With Abdul Fatawu out for the season and Facundo Buonanotte suspended, Steve Cooper had to make at least two changes, and he handed Kasey McAteer his first-ever Premier League start on the right flank, with Bilal El Khannouss on the left. But there were two further changes as well, with Caleb Okoli replacing Jannik Vestergaard in defence and Jamie Vardy declared fit to lead the line in place of Jordan Ayew.
Fewer than 10 minutes in, there was another change with Harry Winks limping off to be replaced by Oliver Skipp. The substitution came amid Chelsea dominance and the visitors were ahead shortly afterwards.
A City goal-kick routine backfired and they put themselves under pressure. Still, Wout Faes had three chances to clear, the Belgian messing up each time, with Jackson then stealing possession, nipping around Okoli and finishing past Mads Hermansen.
The Chelsea dominance did not let up. For 35 minutes they penned City back, and Hermansen was needed to deny Noni Madueke, the England winger then seeing a goal ruled out for offside.
But with 10 minutes to play in the half, City came alive. They’d not had a touch in the Chelsea box, never mind a shot, to that point, but went close when McAteer curled past the far post after a swift breakaway, with Wilfred Ndidi then slicing wide from Victor Kristiansen’s cross.
But that hope didn’t lead to a strong start to the second half. City were again on the back foot and were fortunate for a Chelsea mix-up, with Madueke blocking Cole Palmer’s goal-bound shot on the line as he looked set to gobble up a rebound and make it 2-0.
But from the next rebound, Fernandez made no mistake. Jackson beat Okoli to a cross and headed at goal, Hermansen parrying. But Kristiansen didn’t keep track of the Argentinian midfielder, who nodded in.
City had a shout for a penalty when substitute Stephy Mavididi was tripped and they did get a spot-kick when fellow replacement Bobby De Cordova-Reid was felled in injury time. Ayew tucked away the penalty but there was no time for a shot at an equaliser. Here’s how we scored the players.
Mads Hermansen: He made decent saves to keep out good Chelsea chances, but he may be disappointed that he parried the ball into dangerous areas. Madueke bailed him out for the first, but Fernandez scored the second. 5
James Justin: When he stayed back, he defended well, blocking crosses and standing up to Felix to limit the Portuguese star’s impact. But then he was asked to advance and he was caught up the pitch for the second goal. 5
Wout Faes: He wasn’t helped by a failed goal-kick routine, but he had three opportunities to clear for the opening goal and messed them all up. He did recover and showed decent anticipation at times, but never reached a point where there was confidence in his performance. 4
Caleb Okoli: He was rocky early on, and his aimless passing put City in trouble consistently. When he got a chance to outmuscle Jackson, he did do, but was then beaten all ends up by the striker for the second goal. 4
Victor Kristiansen: He was better than at United, but still didn’t have the best of afternoons. He was wobbly whenever Madueke ran at him and then lost Fernandez for the second goal, albeit he did look reasonably comfortable when joining the attacking, setting up Ndidi’s chance. 4
Harry Winks: That Skipp began to warm up just seven minutes in suggested he may have a problem, and it proved to be the case just a few minutes later. City will hope it’s not a serious injury. N/A
Boubakary Soumare: He was combative, although did fly rashly at times, and put Chelsea under pressure to cause them problems. He made things happen on the ball too, with smart offloads getting City on the front foot. 6
Kasey McAteer: He was naive in his 50-50s with Cucurella, the Spaniard outsmarting him, and he went backwards too often in possession, at least until groans from the City fans encouraged him to be more progressive. Went close with City’s best first-half chance. 4
Wilfred Ndidi: He was perhaps lucky to escape a red card for a rake down Palmer’s Achilles and he sliced wide a decent chance late in the first half. He just didn’t get on the ball and when he did, he was often offside. 3
Bilal El Khannouss: City’s star man. He dribbled really well at times to make City a threat, the Moroccan at the heart of all of their good moves forward. He had the right ideas with his through balls too, if not always perfect execution. 6
Jamie Vardy: His offloads were fine when he did receive the ball to feet. But he just wasn’t in the game at all and didn’t have any opportunities inside the box. 4
Oliver Skipp: He was decent on the ball in the first half when he had time, and once up to speed, he played some good first-time passes too, although there were still moments where he was too slow. He did get around the pitch though. 5
Jordan Ayew: Not really involved, other than nonchalantly sticking away the penalty. Didn’t do any better than McAteer on the right. 5
Stephy Mavididi: Caused trouble in moments on the left flank and should have had a penalty for a foul by Fofana. But he didn’t receive the ball often enough. 5
Bobby De Cordova-Reid: Made a nice run to win the penalty City did get awarded. But it was all a bit of a mess by the time he came onto the pitch and it wasn’t really clear what his role was. 5
Patson Daka: A first outing of the season for Daka and he was naturally rusty. But he looks to have immediately jumped ahead of Edouard in the pecking order. 4
