Leicester City suffered a disastrous defeat to relegation rivals Wolves as a calamitous Danny Ward display proved costly.

The Wales goalkeeper, brought in with Mads Hermansen failing to prove his fitness, conceded three goals from three shots on target in the first period, his performance marked by sub-par shot-stopping and poor communication. The defenders in front of him were guilty of errors too, but it was the goalkeeper who was targeted for boos by City's own fans.

Ruud van Nistelrooy’s men mustered little in response and failed to score for the second game running. They will enter Christmas sitting 17th, just two points above both Wolves and Ipswich.

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Beyond Ward, there were two further changes for City. Boubakary Soumare, back from suspension, replaced Hamza Choudhury while Jordan Ayew was handed his first start under van Nistelrooy.

In a tetchy opening 15 minutes, there were very few openings. In the one City chance, an excellent Bilal El Khannouss pass found Jamie Vardy’s run, but Jose Sa, brought into the line-up by new Wolves boss Vitor Pereira, was quickly off his line and blocked with his chest outside his box.

With Wolves’ first chance, the ball ended up in the net. The centre-backs and Ward were all culpable. Jannik Vestergaard let the ball bounce in the box, Conor Coady didn’t get tight enough to Goncalo Guedes and Ward let the forward’s shot bounce underneath him.

But it was nothing compared to the calamity of the second goal. A long switch of play was left by James Justin, possibly after a call from Ward, but only let Rodrigo Gomes in behind. Ward then wrong-footed himself, diving out of the way as the ball trickled in.

City enjoyed their best chance of the first period when Vardy’s shot was cleared off the line by Toti, but soon after a third went in at the other end. Soumare didn’t track Matheus Cunha’s run and his on the angle went through Ward, bounced off the post and in. Van Nistelrooy stormed off down the tunnel, not sticking around for the three minutes of added time.

Wout Faes and Harry Winks were introduced at half-time while Hamza Choudhury and Bobby De Cordova-Reid came on just afterwards. But while City controlled the game, there was a lack of cutting edge and a lack of chances.

A nice pass from Coady set Vardy free and around Sa, but he could only hit the side-netting from a tight angle. Then the number nine’s header was saved comfortably by the Wolves keeper.

But after the hour mark, the game petered out. The qualities van Nistelrooy praised against West Ham and Brighton – the spirit, energy and determination – were not there. Here's how we scored the players.

Danny Ward: So poor. The first and third goals went through him, while the second was a calamity of errors in communication and awareness. But being booed by his own fans can’t have been helpful. 2

James Justin: The calamity in communication with Ward was costly for the second goal, but blame may solely rest with the keeper if he did call for it. Either way, Justin lost the ball a fair amount on his forays into attack and didn’t make any notable defensive interventions. 3

Conor Coady: He was not at all tight enough to Guedes for the first goal, giving him enough space to get a shot away on the spin. Defended reasonably well aside from that and bent in a great pass for a second-half Vardy chance. 5

Jannik Vestergaard: He looked composed in the early stages, but could’ve done far more for the first Wolves goal, not fighting hard enough to get past Larsen to clear, letting the ball bounce in the area. He wasn’t involved too much after that. 4

Victor Kristiansen: He still gives the ball away too cheaply, while none of his more adventurous passes found their target. Could he have done more to stop Guedes setting up Cunha for the third too? Maybe. 4

Boubakary Soumare: He was City’s best player in the early stages, driving forward with the ball and connecting play well. But he was guilty of not tracking Cunha properly for the third goal, and was sloppy at times in the second period. 5

Oliver Skipp: Anonymous for the first 20 minutes, he grew into the game, but not enough to avoid being substituted for Winks at half-time. Bar one quick-thinking free-kick to set up Mavididi, he didn’t do anything of note. 4

Jordan Ayew: Offered nothing and it’s bizarre that he was given so much time on the pitch. He gave away too many fouls early on and didn’t provide anything in attack. 3

Bilal El Khannouss: He played a superb ball to set up Vardy’s early chance and it was his intricate passes that started most of City’s moves. It looked bad when they didn’t come off, but they were effective when they did. It’s a surprise he was substituted so early. 6

Stephy Mavididi: On the ball, he was lively and direct, although he lacked alertness off it. He perhaps tried hardest of every City player in the second half, but was perhaps guilty of trying too hard to make things happen. 5

Jamie Vardy: The timing of his runs was good and he had plenty of half-chances, if no clear-cut ones. He’ll have been disappointed that his touch took him too wide for his best second-half opening. 5

Wout Faes: City were in control in the second half, so he didn’t have too much defending to do. It’s perhaps a good job, because Faes looked like he was in a rash mood, too eager to dive in. 4

Harry Winks: Brought a much-needed steadiness to City when he first came on and that allowed them to build attacks. But he tried to be more audacious with his passes later on, and very few came off. 6

Hamza Choudhury: Showed plenty of fight, with pace and tenacity. That was at least good to see after his difficult outing at Newcastle. 5

Bobby De Cordova-Reid: Made good runs that Soumare sometimes found, but didn’t do a lot with it. He doesn’t look as threatening when out wide. 4

Facundo Buonanotte: Hardly had any time on the pitch. Which is bizarre in itself. N/A

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