Leicester City were saved from defeat by Nat Phillips’ last-gasp own goal as Marti Cifuentes’ side stretched their unbeaten run to five games with a draw at West Brom.With time ticking at the Hawthorns and City staring at defeat, substitute Bobby De Cordova-Reid acrobatically met a deep cross, with his effort diverted in by the unfortunate Phillips.City looked like lacking the creativity to bounce back from Samuel Iling-Junior’s fine solo effort early on, but their pressure told and their injury-time goal grabbed them a point.For the first time in his City tenure, Cifuentes opted to name an unchanged 11, resisting fan calls for Jeremy Monga and Julian Carranza to replace Stephy Mavididi and Jordan Ayew.It was a decision that nearly paid off inside four minutes. Ricardo Pereira curled a pass around the West Brom defence to find Ayew’s run in behind, the Ghanaian shooting across the goal and wide.
The opportunity came as part of a very positive start from City, who looked confident and dangerous. And yet they found themselves behind after just 10 minutes.
In West Brom’s first foray, Aune Heggebo flicked the ball into Iling-Junior’s path and the Aston Villa loanee, making his first Baggies start, dribbled straight through the middle, evading Wout Faes’ flailing challenge with ease before finishing past Jakub Stolarczyk for an excellent solo goal.
City kept their composure and slowly worked their way back into control of the game, with nice, intricate play leading to a Jordan James shot deflected just over.
But clear-cut chances for an equaliser were not easy to come by, with the best opportunity perhaps falling to Ricardo Pereira, who nearly latched on Stephy Mavididi’s dinked cross, debutant Charlie Taylor just getting there first to avert danger.
The Baggies still looked a threat on the break too, although no golden chances fell their way either, with Heggebo twice testing Stolarczyk from range.
City brought on Julian Carranza at the break to try to give themselves more threat inside the penalty box. That didn’t pay off, the Argentinian booked soon after coming on for simulation.
In fact, the better chances early in the second period fell to the Baggies, both from set-pieces, with George Campbell thumping an effort into the side-netting after Ayew failed to clear properly, and then Isaac Price volleying into Stolarczyk’s hands.
And as they pushed, the chances came thick and fast for the Baggies, who should have netted a second goal, only Josh Maja skied a rebound from inside the six-yard box.
It would prove to be costly as De Cordova-Reid met Abdul Fatawu’s deep cross to force the equaliser and a share of the spoils. Here’s how we scored the players.
Jakub Stolarczyk: He seemed to take steps to his right just before Iling-Junior’s shot, opening up his left corner. He didn’t have many difficult shots to save after that, but his positioning was pretty good. 6
Ricardo Pereira: He linked play well in tight areas in the first half, and made good runs to not only support team-mates but again threaten in the box. But he also played a few sloppy passes. 6
Wout Faes: He was left exposed, but it was really poor one-on-one defending for Iling-Junior’s goal, the West Brom man sidestepping his challenge easily. He didn’t do a lot wrong after that, but it was a poor moment. 5
Jannik Vestergaard: When he pressed out from the back, it didn’t pay off, including when he rushed out with Heggebo for the Baggies goal. But his composure on the ball and passing through the lines was very good. 7
Luke Thomas: He put in recovery tackles and spotted danger well. He passed pretty well too. An all-around decent showing. 7
Boubakary Soumare: One of his better games of the season, and perhaps a response to the doubters, with the midfielder much more willing to play forward and start attacks. He showed confidence and quality in the way passed and carried the ball. 7
Harry Winks: A very cool head in the middle, Winks gives Cifuentes the control he wants. Sustaining attacks is certainly easier with him in the side. 7
Jordan James: He manoeuvred himself into a good shooting position for his deflected effort over the bar, but City probably didn’t see enough of him on the ball in attack beyond that. He did his fair share of defensive work. 5
Abdul Fatawu: He got around Taylor regularly but the end product was often lacking. He didn’t give up though, and delivered the right ball late on. 6
Jordan Ayew: His early run off the shoulder and shot wide looked promising for a dangerous performance from Ayew, but he didn’t threaten the box beyond that. His hold-up was good in the first half, but his set-piece delivery was poor and his hashed clearance nearly led to a West Brom goal. 5
Stephy Mavididi: He showed really good footwork at times in the first half and always attacked his man, creating the pockets of space he needed to deliver regular dinked crosses into the box, nearly finding Ricardo with one. But he was quieter in the second half. 7
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