City's Perfect Away Record Continues In Leeds
With three games in the space of just seven days, manager Brendan Rodgers made four changes to the side that won 2-1 in Athens on Thursday, with Luke Thomas, Dennis Praet, Papy Mendy and Harvey Barnes all starting in Yorkshire.
Both sides have enjoyed big victories in the Premier League this term, and with Leeds and Leicester each boasting a goal to game ratio of two or more in their six outings, there was no surprise when an early strike found the back of the net inside three minutes.
After a minute's silence to remember the fallen, the opener came just seconds after Kasper Schmeichel held onto a Patrick Bamford header from six yards out. From City’s next attack, Christian Fuchs played the ball into path of Barnes, who was beaten to it by Robin Koch.
However, with the Elland Road pitch saturated from a heavy downpour throughout the evening, Jamie Vardy latched onto a short back-pass from Koch before squaring to Barnes, who made no mistake and fired into an open net.
Barnes followed up with two more chances not long after. First, he was closed down by Illan Meslier, who smothered well at the front post, before he made a smart save from City’s No.15, whose shot appeared to be heading for the top corner before the Leeds stopper, at full-stretch, did well to get there.
City were rampant going forward, constantly winning the ball back before launching attacks against Marcelo Bielsa’s side, and when James Justin recovered possession of the ball high up the pitch, a chance to double their advantage arrived on 21 minutes.
Justin’s pass to Youri Tielemans saw the Belgian find Marc Albrighton on the right flank, and the winger’s cross was met by Vardy. His initial header was parried by Meslier and into the path of Tielemans, who slotted in to make it 2-0 for his second Premier League goal of 2020/21.
Academy graduate Thomas then curled into the arms of Meslier, while at the other end, Schmeichel pulled off a brilliant save to prevent Bamford from halving the deficit seven minutes before the break.
Leeds looked for an immediate reaction after the interval and they found one on 48 minutes when Stuart Dallas’ cross avoided everyone, including the unsighted Schmeichel, before finding the back of the net to give the hosts hope.
Bielsa’s outfit pursued a second goal and came close to one 10 minutes into the second half when former Valencia and Swansea City attacker Pablo Hernández bent the ball onto the crossbar from distance.
The introduction of James Maddison and Cengiz Ünder saw the former create City’s next goalscoring opportunity as he carried the ball towards Meslier’s net before finding Barnes, who took a touch and curled straight at the Frenchman.
Then came the turning point in the game. Leeds’ appeals for a penalty were waved away after replays showed clear simulation from Luke Ayling, who avoided a booking, and just moments later, City restored their two-goal cushion.
Substitute Maddison picked the ball up in midfield and spotted the run of Ünder, who similar to the combination against Arsenal eight days ago, lifted a pass into Vardy and the No.9 did the rest to net his seventh Premier League goal of the season.
Vardy was in on goal again with seven minutes to play, but was unable to beat Meslier, and while that appeared to be the final action of the game, the lively Maddison earned a penalty for the Foxes as the game approached full-time.
The challenge from Mateusz Klich initially went unpunished but after a VAR review in which the referee consulted the pitchside monitor, City were awarded a spot-kick that was successfully converted by Tielemans for his second of the game.
Tielemans' penalty wrapped up a 4-1 victory in Yorkshire - City's best result at Elland Road in their 136-year history, and the first time they have won five of their first seven top-flight games.
Major moment
With Leeds United piling on the pressure as they went in search of an equalising goal, the next goal would undoubtedly be a decisive one.
City weathered the storm and when Brendan Rodgers brought on James Maddison and Cengiz Ünder, the visiting side’s attacking options were bolstered.
Those changes proved to be vitally important to the overall result, as, like they did at Emirates Stadium last weekend, Ünder and Vardy linked up to devastating effect.
Who impressed?
Speaking to LCFC Radio at full-time, Gerry Taggart said: “Special mention to Marc Albrighton, I thought he was fantastic, and Christian Fuchs was again. Dennis Praet was excellent, but I’ve got to give it to that man in midfield, Youri Tielemans. His penalty was nonchalant and defensively, he helped Leicester get up the pitch."
Where do we stand?
The 4-1 victory in Yorkshire sees Leicester City jump up to second in the Premier League table, having won 15 points from their first seven 2020/21 fixtures.
Coming up…
A third UEFA Europa League Group G fixture follows on Thursday as Leicester City entertain SC Braga (8pm kick-off), before a Premier League encounter with Wolverhampton Wanderers follows on the same soil three days later (2pm kick-off).
All times GMT.