It appears highly likely that the season, which appeared hopeless a week ago, will conclude with a promotion. Leicester thrashed Southampton on Tuesday night, putting themselves just a win away from an immediate return to the majors.
This promotional campaign has felt, for extended periods, like a season devoid of special moments. A season of victory with thirty-five easy victories over teams like Stoke and Plymouth, whose primary emotional appeal was to enrage everyone with the manner in which they were attained.
Everything has changed in the past month. Leicester’s wobbling has given every game a great deal of significance, increasing the intensity and suffering of a supporter base not known for its unwavering optimism. Four times in a row, the squad has come through at the King Power.
The first match was against Norwich, which the players themselves regarded as “like a cup final” and which they overcame to win after falling down by a goal. Then came Birmingham, where in the last seconds, Stephy Mavididi headed home the victory. Subsequently, against West Brom, Hamza Choudhury produced one of the finest defensive performances in history, leaving a lasting impression on Leicester fans.
And then there was this, the ultimate showpiece, an incredible performance that left Southampton’s pride in ruins and propelled the Foxes to the verge of promotion. Despite their five outstanding goals that evening, you thought they could have scored a few more.
The primary man
Starting with Abdul Fatawu is the only option. His was undoubtedly the best individual performance of the season, even if this was the best team effort.
Over the past ten years, we have been fortunate to watch the entire spectrum of right-wing play, and in this particular game, Fatawu gave it his all, much like Riyad Mahrez. For the majority of the season, he has shown off some incredible skills. He can easily crush a full back in a one-on-one match, outpace him for speed on the outside, or cut inside to pose a threat. It hadn’t yet materialized into a performance that was genuinely devastating.
His own goal output has been the main issue. For others, he’s been an excellent creator. Even if his productivity isn’t as high as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s, when playing time is taken into account, he has been Leicester’s most productive creator. He generates more opportunities than any other Leicester player, leads the league in predicted assists, and is among the best ball carriers in the division by that measure.
He essentially put the final touches on those stats on Tuesday night. His season goal total doubled, and his stats now more accurately represent his worth to this team. He still had the option to have more, though.
This game’s tone was established pretty early on. The two matches between Leicester and Southampton have been like Leicester playing against their younger brother in the backyard if the two matches against Leeds and Ipswich were similar to Premier League matches, with high-caliber football played by a team that was well-coached and had periods when Leicester was pinned back.
Fatawu entered for the first time in 10 minutes and took a mild jab at Alex McCarthy. This sort of finish, devoid of any kind of refinement, is the reason he hasn’t scored more. By the time he received his second opportunity, Leicester had set up a half-chance for Jamie Vardy, and it’s very likely that Fatawu would have given Dewsbury-Hall a goal if he had been able to better control a high ball in the area.
The intent is always crucial to the Foxes’ performance. It’s usually a positive indicator when they apply the full pressure, with the center backs squaring up against the opposition forwards in their own half. When they sit on their heels on the ball, like Southampton did in this match, the issues arise.
It can be dangerous to play so aggressively from the back. It may expose the defense entirely and result in significant opportunities being lost. However, it is obviously appropriate for the players Leicester has. James Justin is in at left back and possesses the quickness to cover, while Wout Faes is a natural ball player who charges forward to pelt opponents with strikes as soon as he sees the ball. Another advantage is that, in most cases, the only penalty for making a mistake is a harmless free kick.
Leicester has scored goals in the past thanks to Faes’ ability to win the ball in certain circumstances. The most memorable being the 4-1 fever dream victory over Tottenham in February of last year, when he destroyed Harry Kane. He passed through Che Adams’s back in this instance, and when the ball broke to Dewsbury-Hall in space, he discovered Fatawu’s incredible, iconic run inside his full back. The Ghanaian did have some skill this time, though, as he put Leicester ahead.
After that, Faes and Jannik Vestergaard thoroughly alpha-ed Adams, slamming into him whenever they could, and he wandered aimlessly for the rest of the game. Southampton did not appear to be a decent team at all, lacking a focal point to generate pressure on Leicester.
Give it up, Jon
Ironically, Leicester only had 34% of the ball in the game when they put on their best performance of the year. However, it might not be as much of an Idea violation as it first seems. Enzo Maresca prioritizes control over all else, even though he wants to hold onto the ball. Without even attempting to touch the ball, Leicester was able to exert total control over this match.
The two dangerous instances were self-inflicted. One occurred when Mads Hermansen dropped a cross without warning for no apparent reason; fortunately, it landed on Ricardo Pereira’s chest. The other came at the kickoff for the second half, when Southampton just ran right into the heart of Leicester’s weird “to you, to you, to you” routine between Ricardo and Harry Winks, taking the ball. That one might require some reconsideration.
Apart from that, the second half was completely dominating. It was all Fatawu’s. Wilfred Ndidi’s excellent work set him up for a quick break before he grabbed Kyle Walker-Peters’ lunch money on the right wing, cut inside, and hammered over the bar once more. After a short delay, Stephy Mavididi scored the second goal with a beautiful cross onto Ndidi’s head. Then, Fatawu produced his signature finish, cutting inside to curl the ball over the goalie and into the far corner.
That’s when the dam burst. A minute earlier, Mavididi was showing off in one corner, stepovers and rolling his foot over the ball carelessly. Ten seconds later, Fatawu was fed on the right by a masterful pass from Hamza Choudhury, Dewsbury-Hall, and Mavididi, and he finished first time with a magnificent cross from Fatawu to Vardy.
Sky celebrated each of these goals by cutting to a jubilant Top in the crowd, joining him in his raucous celebration. As the goals kept coming in, it was hilarious to watch Jon Rudkin, who was seated next to the big boss, react to this historic moment in Leicester City history as though someone had just taken his lunch money.
It was five by the time Rudkin cleared his face of the stony-faced look. Southampton charged forward, misplaced the ball, and it ended up in their net a few seconds later. 50 yards across the pitch, Dewsbury-Hall carried the ball and feed Vardy, who knew exactly who was unmarked at the back post and squared it for Fatawu to finish with a hat-trick.
The GOAT endures.
It is only fitting to give Vardy further recognition. He’s been excellent leading the line in the last two games with more room to work in. Vardy has shown us some incredible throwback runs in the past, where he gets past opponents and forces them into crazy saves or, like it happened on Saturday, bundles him over for a penalty. Given that he scored in both, it is clear why he was selected for back-to-back matches that were played just a few days apart.
Remarkably, he currently has 16 goals from 16 starts, considering that he appears to have missed the ball in almost half of his games. In terms of xG per ninety minutes, he leads the league (ironically, Postman Patson Daka is second). Despite all the controversy surrounding them, some purported club experts who may or may not be sharing offensive films on Twitter may be correct in saying that the issue has less to do with the strategy itself and more to do with taking risks.
Or perhaps Leicester is well-suited to defeat specific kinds of opponents. This season, Southampton, who are obviously huge supporters of the nine, have fallen to Leicester 9-1 overall.
Or perhaps the team’s absurd actions intended to irritate the supporters are a clever motivating strategy of some sort. After the PSR shenanigans, Norwich was the first home game. The powers that be warmed up for this one by raising the price of season tickets and charging £25 for a small piece of plastic that most people already own.
A little cry against the £25 and a banner were present, but they didn’t really catch on. Rather, when the goals came in droves, a triumphant attitude emerged. A game that only a few days before appeared to be very dangerous turned out to be a piece of cake, and we’re now only a few wins away from promotion.
This campaign has defied logic and common sense. A run of record-breaking success was followed by a period of relegation, but then a sudden and unexpected backbone appeared, and that was followed by the most devastating performance of the season. Leicester might advance without having to play a single game, but it’s more likely that they’ll need to defeat Preston on Monday in order to do so.
It appears to be in the bag. Who knows what to expect, though, at this point? Leicester’s failure to improve from here would be a ridiculous turn of events, but there are still a lot of unsolved issues that need to be verified before they can be fully banished.
But at least for now, this season will never be forgotten thanks to a few magical moments. Performances by individuals and groups to be displayed alongside earlier marketing initiatives. An opportunity to advance on a positive note as opposed to the choppy, halting path to the playoffs that felt like it was trying to force its way into our existence.
We just need one more push to get there.
