Spirited Foxes Victorious In South Wales
Under the stewardship of Caretaker Manager Michael Appleton, the Foxes were dominant from the off as Lukasz Fabianski made two fine saves inside the opening 10 minutes, before Jamie Vardy was denied by the Swansea stopper shortly after.
Fabianski then turned away Wilfred Ndidi’s close range shot, but the 2015/16 Premier League champions did not have to wait much longer before they broke the deadlock.
The menacing Riyad Mahrez, who bagged his first goal of the campaign against West Bromwich Albion on Monday night, delivered from the left flank and Federico Fernandez turned the ball into his own net.
City had to do some defending following the opener, as central defensive partnership Harry Maguire and Wes Morgan stood strong to nullify the Swansea threat and help their side head into the break with a 1-0 advantage.
Just as they had started the first half, the Foxes continued to impress following the interval and scored a second goal that was again orchestrated by Mahrez.
Marc Albrighton lifted a brilliant pass into the path of the Algeria international, who squared across the face of goal for Okazaki – the City No.20 made no mistakes to net his fifth of the term in all competitons.
Swansea replied seven minutes later, though, as Alfie Mawson controlled Renato Sanches’ corner before turning and firing in from close range.
Efforts from Chelsea loanee Tammy Abraham and former Fox Kyle Naughton followed, while at the other end, Vardy was denied by Fabianski after a darting run from Mahrez.
The Swans piled on the pressure in the closing stages in an attempt to salvage a point, but City, as they did all game, defended resiliently to grind out the win.
Major moment
Michael Appleton stressed the importance of starting positively against Swansea City, and that’s exactly what the Foxes did in South Wales.
Their first goal came in fortuitous circumstances as Federico Fernandez flicked Riyad Mahrez’s cross past Lukasz Fabianski, but City’s determination was there for all to see and the opening strike proved pivotal.
Who impressed?
“A midfield masterclass.” – Gerry Taggart
“A Rolls Royce performance.” – Chris Coles
Our LCFC Radio commentators were full of praise for summer arrival Vicente Iborra on Saturday and it was easy to see why.
The Spaniard dictated play in midfield, majestically passing the ball about and often picking out the forward pairing of Shinji Okazaki and Jamie Vardy.
In the second half, following a change of formation, he performed equally as well in a defensive midfield role to help City see out the win.
Where do we stand?
Leicester City’s second Premier League triumph of the campaign sees them jump four places to 13th in the table. They now have nine points from as many 2017/18 games.
Coming up…
A Carabao Cup Round 4 clash with Leeds United is next up on Tuesday evening (7:45pm kick-off), before Leicester resume their Premier League campaign against Everton on the same soil five days later.