City The Victors In Shrewsbury
Stephy Mavididi's deflected free-kick gave the visitors a 27th-minute advantage before, early in the second half, Kasey McAteer hit back a minute after Caleb Okoli's unlucky own goal to seal victory for the Foxes.
There was a mix of youth and experience in the City XI for their first pre-season friendly on UK soil, with new permanent signing Abdul Fatawu among the starters. The Ghana international agreed a five-year contract at the Club this summer after playing a crucial role in last term’s EFL Championship title triumph. Cooper’s Foxes were adorning their new-look 2024/25 black away kit in Shropshire, with this test against League 1 opposition coming just hours after its official unveiling.
Leicester were vibrant from the off, bursting forwards both centrally and down the flanks. Their first opening came in the sixth minute, with winger Mavididi arrowing a low drive narrowly wide of the far post from around 25 yards out. A deflected long-range hit from Fatawu, meanwhile, needed saving by Shrewsbury’s trialist goalkeeper 21 minutes into the contest. The home side had a threat of their own too and only a last-ditch intervention from Luke Thomas prevented Tom Bloxham from converting a simple finish from Jordan Shipley’s cross in front of the travelling Blue Army.
Cooper’s City side were in front before the half-hour. Mavididi’s free-kick – after a late challenge on Fatawu – deflected off the hosts' wall and bobbled over the line to make it 1-0. The trialist in the net for the Shrews was called into action again on 38 minutes. Conor Coady, the visiting first-half skipper, charged forwards down the middle and fed Ricardo Pereira, darting towards goal on the right channel. The Portuguese fed the ball into Patson Daka, in the box, but he found the ‘keeper in his way. It was a move which deserved a goal but no such luck. Harry Winks, elsewhere, was nearly the scorer of a goal straight from a corner, although the home shot-stopper was alert enough to tip it over his crossbar.
The Manager elected to make seven changes at the break, with new signing Okoli, acquired from Atalanta, one of those to play the second half. The Italian centre-back was the unfortunate man to get the last touch on John Marquis’ cross to put the third-tier hosts level – but that parity on the scoresheet wouldn’t last long at all. McAteer’s close-range, right-footed lob evaded the auditioning Shrews goalkeeper and instantly restored City’s lead just 60 seconds after losing it. Okoli, naturally eager to impress on his first LCFC outing in England, then made an excellent block to halt a Marquis hit towards goal.
Inspired positioning and brave defending from both Okoli and then Hamza Choudhury, the second-half Foxes captain, kept a goalmouth scramble out of Ward’s net before Shipley curled over for Paul Hurst’s home outfit. Will Alves, one of three youngsters to enter the fray on the hour, also skidded a 20-yard effort wide for Leicester. 'Keeper Danny Ward, on the other hand, was able to scoop up a similar drive from Jack Loughran at the opposite end. Boubakary Soumaré, too, needed to get a strong block in to deny Harrison Biggins the chance to put Ward to the test again. In the end, it was a comfortable evening for Cooper's men, who will have benefited from another taxing summer workout ahead of the new Premier League season. In all, 21 players saw action in Shropshire as the pre-season schedule gathers pace.
With another decent runout in the bag, following Saturday's 2-1 success against Villarreal in Evian – contested over two 60-minute games – the Foxes are next in action on Friday. They tackle Italian side Palermo at Chesterfield's SMH Group Stadium in a 7:45pm BST kick-off.