Matchday Live Talking Points: Accepting A Point & City's Cohesion
- Matchday Live provided over four hours of coverage of Leicester City's 1-1 draw with Everton
- Youri Tielemans netted City's equaliser following an opener for Toffees midfielder James Rodríguez's
- Matt Elliott, Steve Walsh and Gerry Taggart assessed the action at full-time on LCFC Radio
- The coverage continues at 12:30pm on Sunday as Leeds United visit King Power Stadium (2pm kick-off)
For the second game in a row, City came from behind, following James Rodríguez's curler off the post in the first half, but Brendan Rodgers' men tightened the screw significantly after the interval.
It eventually fell to Youri Tielemans to hit his sixth goal in all competitions in 2020/21 to restore parity on the scoresheet, sealing a point which keeps Leicester third in the Premier League.
Speaking after a match which either side could have won, but one in which City were dominant for large spells, Elliott, Walsh and Taggart provided their thoughts at full-time...
Accepting a point
Steve Walsh said: “I am happy overall. We’ll take a point. In that second half, there was better tempo, better intensity to Leicester’s play. They seemed to find that rhythm that they’ve been in recently. In the context of the game, the way Everton set out, it did cause a lot of frustration, but they remained patient. This was a test of how they could break a team down and they eventually got that break through. That second half was very dominant.”
Respect for Leicester
Matt Elliott said: “It’s a sign of the respect of which Leicester are held by teams in the Premier League. That approach is more commonplace due to there being no supporters at the stadiums. Crowds will put up with teams setting up in that manner at home on the odd occasion, but not regularly, and certainly not at a club like Everton. It was probably the best way for Everton to approach it because Leicester had a lot of mobility in their team.”
Chances for both teams
Gerry Taggart said: “The goal was nothing less than Leicester deserved. It was a good game to be at, a good game to watch, and I thought Leicester gave their all. They’ll probably be sat in the dressing room wondering if they’d had a bit more quality in the final third, they probably could have won that game. Everton had two free headers in the box, from Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, so that’s two big chances for them too.”
City's standout performers
Steve Walsh said: “There were some really good performances. Harvey Barnes, Youri Tielemans, Wesley Fofana and Timothy Castagne, they all did well. There was some terrific defending in there. They showed resilience and that they could stand up against a team that sat back. For a home team trying to frustrate an away Leicester team shows you how far we’ve come and how we’re judged. Everton were worried about threats.”
The Foxes' cohesion
Matt Elliott said: “Leicester will be pleased with their performance, generally. It’s a difficult place to go, Goodison Park, and they will be mildly frustrated that they weren’t able to take the three points. That’s what they’ve come to expect of themselves. They’re in top form, they’re top-quality players and there’s a real cohesion about their game. Thankfully, they got something out of the game, though, because that would have been a travesty if not.”
Praise for Barnes
Gerry Taggart said: “It was attack after attack after attack from Leicester in the second half. Harvey Barnes, under pressure, the composure he showed was top-drawer football. It was one of those games. As much as Leicester were on top, Everton stuck in there. They put their bodies on the line and they always had a threat going forward. If that had been a boxing match, though, it would have been a unanimous decision in Leicester’s favour.”
All times GMT.