Leicester Beat Randers On UECL Bow
For the Club’s first fixture in the competition, there were three changes to the side that drew with West Ham United on Sunday. In came Jannik Vestergaard, Marc Albrighton and Ademola Lookman, while manager Brendan Rodgers handed a spot on the bench to youngster Ollie Ewing.
After Youri Tielemans had a strike blocked, Kasper Schmeichel held onto Tosin Kehinde's drive from distance. Both opportunities arrived inside 10 minutes, and another came not long after when Tielemans' delicious ball from the right was glanced over by Patson Daka.
The Zambia sensation was in on goal again within seconds of his previous attempt, however Randers shot-stopper Patrik Carlgren was quick to race off his line, and was able to gather.
The trickery of Lookman on the right flank very nearly led to the opener after the quarter-hour mark, sending a low cross into Academy graduate Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who had a strike saved by the legs of Carlgren.
But City's pressure told on 23 minutes, when a sublime piece of play that involved Tielemans, Lookman and Wilfred Ndidi led to the Leicester No.25 slotting into the far corner after being teed up by Lookman - a goal on his 200th Foxes appearance in all competitions.
Urged on by the Blue Army, Harvey Barnes came close to doubling his side's advantage not long after, only for Carlgren to beat away his left-footed attempt. The No.7, after a flowing move, then lifted over as Leicester's search for a second goal continued.
Only the fingertips of Carlgren prevented Dewsbury-Hall's placed attempt from nestling into the bottom corner with four minutes of the first half to play. The resulting corner fell to Çağlar Söyüncü, whose fearsome half-volley was again stopped by the Randers 'keeper, while Daniel Amartey nodded the rebound wide.
The busy Carlgren was there again a minute later, diving low to halt Dewsbury-Hall's shot. However, despite City dominating in the first half, Randers captain Vito Hammershøy-Mistrati restored parity by converting Kehinde's cross from the right.
Just 90 seconds after the restart, Daka drove into the arms of Carlgren with a first-time effort, but he could do nothing about Leicester's next attack as Barnes profited from a defensive error. Lookman applied the pressure before Simon Piesinger was unable to clear, leaving the No.7 to turn and shoot into a largely open net.
That put Barnes level with Daka in the Club's leading European goalscoring exploits, but the No.29 soon regained his record after slotting in following a lovely piece of play from Tielemans, who feinted past his marker before his strike was initially turned away - 3-1 to the Foxes.
A fine switch of play from Albrighton to Tielemans then led to an opportunity for Lookman, whose drive was palmed away by Carlgren at the near post.
Then, Daka turned 30 yards from goal before stinging the palms of the stopper with just under 30 minutes to go. That was the end of his involvement, with Kelechi Iheanacho replacing the Zambian. James Maddison also came on in place of goalscorer Ndidi.
Hammershøy-Mistrati nodded onto the roof of the net, however City's advantage grew in the next attack as Dewsbury-Hall swept home Lookman's pass for his second goal for the Football Club. His signature anthem rang around Leicester City Stadium as the Foxes built a commanding first-leg lead.
Only a point-blank save from Carlgren prevented Iheanacho from making it 5-1 on 75 minutes. Then came three further substitutes. Hamza Choudhury, Ayoze Pérez and Boubakary Soumaré entered the action, and off came Maddison, who went down off the ball, as well as goalscorers Barnes and Dewsbury-Hall.
The Foxes were down to 10 men heading into time added on as Söyüncü had to be taken off after he had contested an aerial challenge. Then, Lookman headed off target after latching onto Iheanacho's deep delivery - the final significant opportunity of a match in which Leicester were clear winners.
Major moment
Although they headed into the break all square, conceding late in the first half, the Foxes responded immediately after the interval through Harvey Barnes. That set City on their way in the second period, and they went on to score a further two goals through Patson Daka and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
Who impressed?
Speaking on LCFC Radio’s Matchday Live, 2000 League Cup winner Matt Elliott said: “His all-round play, energy and tenacity, his smoothness and calmness on the ball, he’s playing like he’s been around the first team for decades, never mind just over half a season, and that’s Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall."
Where do we stand?
The Foxes will head into the second leg of their play-off encounter with Randers with a 4-1 advantage. The winners of the tie will advance into the last-16 of the competition.
Coming up…
Leicester City travel to Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Molineux Stadium for a Premier League clash on Sunday (4:30pm kick-off), ahead of Thursday’s play-off second leg encounter with Randers in Denmark (5:45pm kick-off).
All times GMT.