Matchday Live Talking Points: Bouncing Back & Showing Quality At The Right Time
- Leicester City defeated Fulham 2-0 at Craven Cottage on Wednesday evening
- Kelechi Iheanacho and James Justin were on the scoresheet as City climbed to third in the table
- Former Foxes Gerry Taggart, Tony Cottee and Matt Elliott starred on LCFC Radio's coverage
- The three ex-Leicester stars provided their expert analysis on the Club's latest outing
First-half goals from Kelechi Iheanacho and James Justin - both assisted by James Maddison - enabled City to secure their 13th league win of 2020/21, seeing them up to third in the Premier League.
Following the full-time whistle, Taggart, Cottee and Elliott, all members of Martin O'Neill's Leicester side of the 1990s, reflected on another assured performance from Brendan Rodgers' current crop...
A second-gear performance
Gerry Taggart said: “Leicester were in second gear. I said at half-time that they just needed to keep their focus and they did. Fulham, I think, were just a bit too slow in their build-up play. It was very structured, but nobody took the bull by the horns. Leicester saw the game out and it’s as simple as that. All the damage was done in the first half with two fantastic goals and what a contrast from the game on Sunday.”
Bouncing back
Matt Elliott said: “They’ve bounced back quite regularly throughout the season. There were a few things going against them before the game, including their very recent form and the injury situation. There were problems to contend with and Fulham in fact beat them not too long ago at King Power Stadium. They had all these different factors to contend with, but they didn’t let it affect them at all.”
A professional display
Tony Cottee said: “It was a very professional performance from Leicester. They got through the first 15 minutes or so, where there was a little bit of pressure from Fulham, but they defended well. As a unit, they were very well organised, and they looked like they knew what they were doing. As they grew into the game, they created chances and got two very, very good goals. Generally, there was no tempo to the game, which suited Leicester.”
The season so far
Gerry Taggart said: “The season so far has been fantastic. They’ve moved up to third position in the table and they’re still in two cup competitions, one being the Europa League, which is a massive competition. Everyone’s happy and everything is rosy in the garden once more. Obviously, we’ve got three or four players yet to come back. Hopefully that’s sooner rather than later and Leicester have shown after a disappointment, they can bounce back.”
Showing quality at the right time
Matt Elliott said: “Early on, there wasn’t too much in it, but even at that stage, Leicester showed their quality. They had more threat and more potential to cause damage and that proved to be the case. They had one scare with the set-piece, where [Kasper] Schmeichel pulled off a tremendously acrobatic save. That aside, Leicester were pretty comfortable, they showed their quality at the right times, and the second half was a formality.”
Iheanacho's opener
Tony Cottee said: “I was right behind James Maddison and, as soon as he whipped it in, I thought: ‘Oh, that’s a great ball.’ It wasn’t a floated ball in with no pace on it, he really got some pace on the ball, and it was just a case of getting a player in the right position. Iheanacho is a really good finisher. He’s just adjusted his body and headed the ball back from where it’s come from. When you do that, the ‘keeper can’t go back the other way.”