Leicester 1-1 West Brom Eight Things: wing-backs best for Foxes?

Mahrez and Livermore tussle – skysports.com

Riyad Mahrez’s late equalizer for Leicester City saw them draw 1-1 in an even game with West Bromwich Albion, after Nacer Chadli’s free-kick opened the scoring earlier in the second half. Here’s eight things from the game.

Leicester’s lively start

The home side looked bright for a five-minute period early on, when opposing right-back Craig Dawson pushed too far up the pitch. Unsurprisingly, Jamie Vardy found gaps on the left channel between him and the less speedy Ahmed Hegazi to force the latter into fouls. Riyad Mahrez’s free-kicks could not find the targets though and the Foxes struggled to get the right-sided Algerian into the game.

West Brom’s solidification

Once Jonny Evans swapped places with Hegazi and Dawson became more disciplined, thanks to protection from Jay Rodriguez, West Brom looked more compact. Vardy did not have the space he thrives on and strike-partner Kelechi Iheanacho did not match his desire to press, with the service to both restricted by a limited midfield.

Leicester’s limited midfield

4-4-2 was not an ideal formation for breaking down a deep-lying Albion outfit, because there was not enough players with the freedom or ability to influence in the middle third. Vicente Iborra and Wilfred Ndidi played lots of straight, sideways passes without a forward inflection, meaning that the recipient did not have a body shape conducive to looking forward. Although Marc Albrighton, as usual, maintained the shape, he wasn’t the proactive winger Leicester needed in this type of match. He threatened in flashes when he moved to the right to combine with Mahrez, playing a ball across the face of goal but only Vardy made a goalward dart and he was well-guarded by the impressive Evans.

Maguire and Gibbs

It said something about the lack of imagination in both midfields in that first half that the most forward-looking players for either side were arguably defenders. Kieran Gibbs made some decent runs down the left and crossed for Chadli to shoot wide on the half-volley on 17 minutes for Albion’s best opening. Harry Maguire had the confidence to carry the ball out, move into space and try a cross-field ball, which could not be said for the players ahead of him. Leicester’s best effort also came from a defender, right-back Danny Simpson seeing his rasping 35th minute effort pushed away by Boaz Myhill.

Myhill on the ropes

The Australian had a nervy start to the second half, fouling Vardy within seconds of the re-start. He might have conceded a penalty and been sent off, but instead he got away with a yellow and a free-kick, which resulted in Maguire’s back-post header that the 34-year-old saved. Myhill did pick up an injury though and Leicester could have taken advantage on 50 minutes but Mahrez blazed Albrighton’s left-wing cross over the bar from close range.

Baggies breakthrough

Tony Pulis’ side heeded that warning. While in the first half, Salomon Rondon had been on his own, which restricted the momentum of their attacks, a 20-minute second half period saw the midfield get further up. They were rewarded on 62 minutes when Chadli curled an excellent free-kick into the top right-hand corner, with Kasper Schmeichel wrong-footed. Leicester then looked nervous and lost, until the substitutions changed the game.

Shakespeare’s change of system

Craig Shakespeare’s use of substitutions and tactical flexibility has been questioned on occasions, but he got it right on Monday. The 53-year-old introduced Islam Slimani, who occupied centre-backs and held the ball up far better than Iheanacho, while Ben Chilwell who injected much-needed pace on the left. The latter replaced Simpson in a move to a back-three with centre-backs Maguire and Christian Fuchs given licence to push into midfield, with Albrighton on the right and Mahrez getting pockets in the 10 role. The team played with far more urgency and deserved their 80th minute equalizer, which came when Slimani nodded the ball down and Mahrez rammed it into the bottom left-hand corner. The Foxes took the initiative then to try to win, but Hegazi and Evans held firm for the visitors.

In summary

West Brom might have given away a late lead but they will not be overly disappointed with a draw. They had shown little intent in the first half which suggested that a point was the extent of their ambitions and in the second, they weren’t helped by the knock to their second-choice goalkeeper. Leicester meanwhile – 14/1 with betting offers to be relegated – didn’t get the three points they wanted, but they have found a system that suits the players available. They played better in the closing stages with wing-backs than they have done for much of the season – a back-three could help them escape the bottom three.