Matchday Live Talking Points: First Half Dominance & Barnes’ Responsibility
- Leicester City’s 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace analysed on LCFC Radio’s Matchday Live
- Harvey Barnes replied to Wilfried Zaha’s opener in the capital
- Matt Elliott, Dean Hammond and Gerry Taggart all reflect on City’s second draw of 2020/21
City’s second top-flight game in the space of only three days saw them follow Boxing Day’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United with a point in south London, despite arguably deserving all three after a commanding display in the opening 45 minutes.
Kelechi Iheanacho had a penalty saved by Vicente Guaita on 19 minutes after Academy graduate Luke Thomas was fouled in the box, but Palace took the lead via Wilfried Zaha in the second period before Harvey Barnes scored his eighth goal of 2020/21 to level matters in the capital.
Assessing City’s 16th Premier League outing of the season were former Foxes Matt Elliott, Dean Hammond and Gerry Taggart.
The game’s turning point
Matt Elliott said: “I think the game was there for the taking. For me, I looked at it and thought: ‘If you get one here, you’ll get three or four because they looked there for the taking. They weren’t posing any real threat and there was no togetherness about their game. Leicester had the ideal opportunity with the penalty, but it didn’t come through. The game turned a bit, Palace upped their game and it looked difficult.”
Dominating the first half
Dean Hammond said: “From a losing position, to getting an equaliser late on, it’s good to get a point, but I agree with the boys in the studio. The fact that Leicester were so dominant in the first half, so in control against a team that were frail after the two results they had, if Leicester had scored that penalty or got in front, I think the game would have been over. That’s extreme because there’s so much time left in the game, but Leicester were on top so much and were playing the better football.”
A strong finish
Gerry Taggart said: “There was a golden opportunity in the first half, and you expect to go in front. You get one, and the game would have been over at 1-0 because Leicester were that good. The one thing you then don’t want to happen is Palace take the lead, so then although you’re not panicking, you’re scrambling to a certain degree to get back into the game. They got back into it and finished stronger.”
Overall frustration
Matt Elliott said: “All of a sudden, Harvey had provided the spark out of the blue and come up with the goods. It looked like one of those days where there would be a lot of frustration, but Harvey pulled it out the bag and if anything, Leicester should have nicked it. For me, there’s slight relief for getting the point, but overall, there’s frustration there wasn’t all three.”
Barnes’ responsibility
Dean Hammond said: “He can play off either foot. I just enjoy seeing him play centrally, because he can go either way with his left or his right and he will take a shot on. In the second half, his combinations with Luke [Thomas] weren’t as frequent, and I think that was down to Crystal Palace playing with more defensive play, but when he gets in those positions, he will take that responsibility and risk of taking a shot on. It was a really, really good finish, and he’s a really exciting player.”
Clawing a result back
Gerry Taggart said: “They drew a game that maybe they could have lost, so that will be pleasing for Brendan Rodgers – there’s no doubt about that. They’ve clawed another result back having been losing a game of football, just like they did on Boxing Day. When you analyse the chances, the possession and the control that they had in the game, there will be mixed feelings from Brendan Rodgers especially.”