Gutsy Foxes Take A Point From Spurs Opener
It was topsy-turvy at times on City’s top-flight return, the EFL Championship champions having to soak up heaps of pressure before the interval. Pedro Porro’s 29th-minute opener felt like it might mark the start of a Spurs onslaught, Mads Hermansen was certainly kept busy in the Leicester goal. But Steve Cooper’s men settled into the game, eventually taking it by the horns, and in the end they were worthy of at least a draw. A 137th Premier League goal for evergreen Jamie Vardy, still the main man at 37, lifted the roof off King Power Stadium – and could set the tone for these formative weeks of City’s return to the biggest stage of all. The No.9 headed his side level in the 57th minute. This is a season which calls for guts and determination – qualities which the home side showcased in rich quantities after the break on Monday.
There was a surprise when team news was confirmed with Vardy named in the City XI by Cooper in his first competitive game as Manager. The Premier League, FA Cup and two-time Championship winner has been out for much of the summer through injury, but was the man once again leading the line on the opening night. Ahead of kick-off, there was a poignant moment around the ground as the Blue Army paid an emotional tribute to former Manager Craig Shakespeare, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 60. Nigel Pearson and Steve Walsh, his two coaching side-kicks, were in the stands to remember their friend and colleague. Banners were unfurled around the ground in remembrance of two-ball Shakey, the man who was there as Leicester last climbed the leagues and reached the game’s apex.
The match itself was quite the ride for the capacity crowd – who stuck with the boys in blue all night long. The visitors had their foot on the pedal from the off, but would later rue missed opportunities. Moments in, a raking goalline clearance from Wilfred Ndidi stopped Rodrigo Bentancur’s header from bulging the net, before a half-volley from Porro was parried well by Hermansen. The Danish stopper was also put to the test when Son Heung-Min’s cross was nodded towards goal by new Spurs striker Dominic Solanke, although it was a simple enough save for Hermansen at his near post. It had been a chastening start to life back in the Premier League – a Spurs barrage, which continued when Cristian Romero’s header needed to be caught well by Hermansen from Porro’s cross. Another intervention was also required to halt Solanke’s nodded effort 15 minutes in. Leicester were riding the storm but needed a footing.
Just as they seemed to be getting into their stride – venturing forwards at last – Tottenham took the lead. James Maddison, back on familiar soil in lilywhite, was the architect, crossing for Porro to flick a subtle header into the far post. There could have been a quick-fire second for the visitors, too, when Brennan Johnson flashed a delivery across the face of goal, although nobody was there to apply a finish. City’s moments of threat were fleeting before the break. Abdul Fatawu’s cross was seized upon by Guglielmo Vicario in the Spurs net. Bobby De Cordova-Reid also tried to catch Vicario off his line with an effort from 40-odd yards out, but the former Fulham man was off target.
The second half offered a fresh start and the early signs brought promise for the newly-promoted hosts. A last-ditch Pape Sarr block was all that stopped De Cordova-Reid’s drive from testing Vicario, although City’s new No.14 appeared to be offside. Nevertheless, alarm bells were ringing 10 minutes after the restart when Solanke thrashed a low hit at goal from the edge of the box. Hermansen, mind you, was up to the task, able to beat it away. Intricate build-up play gave the former Bournemouth man another bite at the cherry in Spurs’ next surge, finding Hermansen in his way again. The Foxes were fighting, though, intent on stopping their guests from having it all their own way. Victor Kristiansen, one of a few players to return from loan spells away, had Tottenham defenders scrambling, fizzing a low delivery across the goalmouth. There was nobody there to finish, but Fatawu was loitering, waiting for the ball to drop on the far, right-hand side. The Ghanaian took it under his control, later lofting a cross towards the back post. Vardy, City’s man for the big occasion, was there, lurking – and all it took was a deft header to beat Vicario. King Power Stadium duly erupted, a release of pent-up pressure, having watched their side battle their way back into the contest.
The game had been flipped on its head. Now Leicester were the aggressors. Ndidi was the next Fox to go close, slamming a close-range rocket into the side-netting in front of the Spion Kop. Vardy was kicking the air in fury later on, denied by Vicario from completing a turnaround after excellent interplay between Facundo Buonanotte and De Cordova-Reid. Buonanotte’s weighted through-ball was perfect and Leicester’s No.9 was on it in a flash, but the angle was too tight to beat the Spurs ‘keeper.
After a pause in play, due to a potentially serious injury to Bentancur, this final Premier League instalment of the opening weekend reached its climax. Academy graduate Kasey McAteer was one of several City substitutes introduced in the latter moments and, with his first touch, looped a header onto the roof of the Spurs next. Stephy Mavididi, also off the bench, then tried to thread it through to Ndidi, but a brilliant Dejan Kulusevski interception took the chance away from under the Nigerian’s feet. The announcement of nine additional minutes was met with an optimistic roar around Filbert Way, prompted by Cooper geeing the fans up from the sidelines. Into the nine, Mavididi, almost nonchalantly, held the ball up, surveying the scene on the left wing. He eventually sent a cross onto Ndidi’s head, the No.6 glancing it towards the bottom corner. Vicario, though, leapt across his line to divert it around the base of the post. Djed Spence soon had to hurl himself in the way of a James Justin half-volley from Harry Winks’ corner – the midfielder enjoying his first meeting with his former club. There was a last-minute flutter of anxiety before the result was secured – Richarlison heading over from close range. But it would, in the end, have been cruel on the Foxes had they not taken something from this pulsating clash. From contemplating a bruising defeat at the interval, they could have won it, but the celebrations in the stands at full-time are a marker of the satisfaction Cooper’s men can take from their second-half display.