City Kick Off New Year With Comfortable Huddersfield Victory
The 21-year-old’s maiden Foxes goals, on full debut, alongside Ricardo Pereira’s header and Stephy Mavididi’s free-kick, saw the table-toppers return home with another three Sky Bet Championship points safely secured. That’s now 65 points from a possible 78. The Leicester train shows no signs of slowing down.
Four changes from the 2-0 victory over Cardiff City three days ago saw Cesare Casadei, Yunus Akgün, Cannon and Ricardo come in, the latter taking the armband for the Foxes. The Terriers, teetering just above the relegation zone prior to kick-off, arrived off the back of a narrow defeat by Middlesbrough on Friday, and provided a stern test in the opening minutes.
Jannik Vestergaard’s raking ball forward from the half-way line, almost collected by Ricardo, just escaped City’s captain and skidded out for a goal-kick. An early sign that the visitors could be opened up via an aerial route, but clear-cut opportunities were few and far between. The subdued start was no surprise given the number of games both sides have had to contend with over the festive period – a fourth game in nine days for Enzo Maresca’s men.
Sorba Thomas was then sent away down the Huddersfield left and his cross came out to Ben Wiles, though the midfielder couldn’t keep his effort down. Town were alert defensively, too. Rarmani Edmonds-Green got his body in the way of a trademark Mavididi strike from the left, looking to emulate his stunner at Ipswich Town.
More Mavididi magic midway through the half saw the winger jink inside David Kasumu before Tom Lees appeared to haul the Leicester man to the floor inside the area. Muted penalty appeals were waved away by referee Sam Allison, however.
The deadlock was soon broken via a sublime first-time finish from Cannon, finding the bottom corner after Ricardo flicked on James Justin’s cross. Arriving shortly before the interval, it led to an even more dominant end to the half, with Abdul Fatawu cutting inside and shooting straight at Lee Nicholls before the first 45 came to a close.
The Foxes faithful had barely taken their seats for the second period when Fatawu laid the ball off to Justin and his pinpoint cross was perfect for Ricardo to leap up and nod into the opposite corner, doubling the advantage. A goal to add to the Portuguese defender’s assist in the first half.
Hunting an even more comfortable scoreline, Wout Faes found Akgün; the Turkey international turning to create space for a shot that he dragged wide of the target. Fatawu then took aim and his left-footed curler looked bound for goal until substitute Loick Ayina slid in to divert the ball behind.
City finally had the ball in the net for a third time when Cannon fired past Nicholls but the former Everton man was denied a brace by the offside flag. He wouldn’t be minutes later. Vestergaard and Yunus were both involved in the move prior to Harry Winks’ chipped pass allowing Cannon to beat the offside trap before calmly slotting home.
Darren Moore’s side, meanwhile, hadn’t really threatened until Thomas’ cross found Jack Rudoni in the middle, with the midfielder unable to test Mads Hermansen, heading past the post. The Dane soon produced a smart diving save to tip David Kasumu’s effort out, but he could do nothing from the resulting Thomas corner, which initially came out to Lees before Town skipper Michał Helik flicked home from close range to reduce the deficit.
That goal opened the game right up and while the away side came on strong in the succeeding minutes, with Josh Koroma heading over, Leicester soon wrestled back control. An acrobatic but off target effort from Cannon was followed by the fourth, restoring a three-goal cushion. Mavididi’s free-kick beat Nicolls at his near post, squirming under the ‘keeper and sneaking in off the upright. He’s now out in front as Leicester’s top goalscorer this term with nine strikes.
Callum Doyle and Marc Albrighton returned from injury, much to the delight of the Blue Army, and both were involved from the bench late on - Doyle called into defensive action after Koroma hit the bar, getting in the way of Kasumu’s effort as Huddersfield searched for a consolation, while Ricardo could have had a hat-trick, heading wide before blazing over inside the closing stages, unable to add to his tally from Albrighton’s cross.
Stoppage-time saw Winks and Casadei take aim in the quest for a fifth but it wasn’t to be and City settled for four. A 10-point gap to Ipswich Town has opened up, with Coventry City to come a week on Saturday, following an Emirates FA Cup bout at Millwall.