Foxes Frustrated By Defiant Wolves
Manager Brendan Rodgers made two changes to the XI that beat Randers 4-1 in the UEFA Europa Conference League on Thursday, with Luke Thomas and Ricardo Pereira coming in for Jannik Vestergaard and Harvey Barnes, with the latter missing out with a hamstring injury. Daniel Amartey moved back into the heart of the defence, and Marc Albrighton made a return to wide midfield.
A first opportunity of the match fell Leicester's way, with Youri Tielemans side-footing wide from Ademola Lookman's pass inside the Wolves box just four minutes into the game. A lively opening period then saw Ricardo deal with a dangerous delivery with Raúl Jiménez lurking in the six-yard box.
The hosts maintained their push and, on nine minutes, took the lead when Rúben Neves drove home from Jiménez's cushioned pass. Kasper Schmeichel, making his 400th league appearance for the Football Club, couldn't quite get there, and Wolves were ahead.
Only a last-ditch clearance from Conor Coady prevented Albrighton's pass into Patson Daka from reaching the Zambia international at the far post as City sought an immediate reply in torrid conditions in Wolverhampton.
More Leicester pressure followed when Tielemans' drive was beaten away by José Sá, and Lookman was just short of the rebound. The Wolves stopper was there again seconds later, holding onto Daka's long-ranger through the rain. The Foxes were creating, but for now, Bruno Lage's men were standing strong.
After Çağlar Söyüncü got in the way of Daniel Podence's low attempt, Schmeichel held onto Max Kilman's header from João Moutinho's resulting corner on 19 minutes. Leander Dendoncker saw a header deflect wide shortly after, then Rayan Aït-Nouri curled off target from Podence's pull-back.
Good play from Lookman on 25 minutes resulted in the ball dropping to the feet of Ricardo, however the Portugal star sliced over on the half-volley. Roman Saïss then got in the way of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall's pass, before goalscorer Neves cleared from Tielemans as Wolves continued to absorb the Leicester advances.
Lookman dragged wide from a tight angle just after the half-hour mark, while Daka couldn't direct Saïss' attempted clearance on goal. At the other end, a Moutinho corner came to Jiménez in the area, but the Wolves man sent his low drive wide. Söyüncü then halted his advance shortly after.
Five bookings in the space of nine minutes saw Söyüncü, Albrighton, Lookman, Aït-Nouri and Podence all cautioned as the battle continued at Molineux Stadium, where there would soon be another goal - this time for Rodgers' men.
The Foxes were creative in their forward play and that finally paid dividends with five minutes of the first half remaining. Tielemans threaded the ball to Albrighton, who burst into the box and located Lookman - the No.37 sliding home the equaliser for his sixth goal of the season across all formats.
Into the second half, a weaving run from Ricardo resulted in a City corner after the ball deflected off the arm of Saïss and behind. Moments later, Nigeria midfielder Wilfred Ndidi glanced a header into the arms of Sá, who not long after, was alert to Daka's shot at the near post.
Tricky footwork from Lookman saw him glide past two defenders before firing straight at Sá, while Neves lifted a free-kick into the stands as both sides forged opportunities in front of goal.
A swift counter-attack from the visitors on 62 minutes led to Tielemans curling agonisingly wide, and the Belgium midfielder then very nearly set up Lookman, however Nélson Semedo recovered well and chested the ball back to Sá.
After Albrighton was unable to convert a chance from inside the Wolves box, the hosts raced up the other end and regained the lead. Aït-Nouri found Dendoncker, who moved the ball to Podence and the Wolves No.10 did the rest. Appeals from City followed as Jiménez, in an offside position, ran across Schmeichel's line of sight, but the goal stood.
That prompted Rodgers into a double change, with James Maddison and Kelechi Iheanacho strengthening City's attack with 17 minutes of normal time to play. Ndidi and Daka made way.
One of Maddison's first involvements would be to win a free-kick 30 yards from goal. The No.10 stepped up to take it, however his attempt was diverted by the Wolves wall and behind for a corner.
Wolves remained a threat on the break, with substitute Hwang Hee-Chan seeing his strike deflect towards Schmeichel, who was able to gather with comfort on 80 minutes.
Chances continued to present themselves to Leicester. Maddison side-footed the wrong side of Sá's right-hand post after being located by Dewsbury-Hall, before the No.10 sent a powerful half-volley just inches wide.
The Foxes were left with four minutes of stoppage time to restore parity. In the 94th minute, Tielemans smashed a half-volley towards goal, however Sá was equal to it and it was Wolves' defence that would prevail.
Major moment
Although Leicester appeared to be in the ascendancy after the interval, Daniel Podence's neat finish meant the momentum was with Wolves in the second half, and City were unable to level matters for the second time in the encounter.
Who impressed?
Gerry Taggart told LCFC Radio from the pressbox at Molineux Stadium: "I'm going to give it to Ademola Lookman. That's the best game I've seen him play. I thought Ricardo Pereira was excellent and Daniel Amartey was solid, he read situations and his recovery runs were good, but Lookman was Leicester's biggest threat down that left-hand side."
Where do we stand?
After matchday no.23 in the Premier League, City sit 11th in the standings.
Coming up...
The Foxes contest the second leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League Play-Off with Randers on Thursday in Denmark (5:45pm kick-off), and carry a 4-1 aggregate lead into the clash. Then, they travel to Turf Moor to face Burnley in their rearranged Premier League fixture five days later (7:45pm kick-off).
All times GMT.