Leicester City’s miserable home form entered the record books as a disastrous first half against Brentford further dented their Premier League survival bid.
City became the first team in the history of the English top flight to lose six consecutive home matches without scoring in the same season as their plans unravelled in half an hour.
Brentford capitalised on City’s panicked, unorganised defending to score through Yoane Wissa, Bryan Mbeumo and Christian Norgaard, and City at no point looked like they could fight back. Fabio Carvalho added to the misery in the final stages.It means City have now lost 10 of their last 11 games and could see the gap to safety rise to five points on Saturday.Pleased with how his side had gone toe-to-toe with a title challenger for 80 minutes against Arsenal last weekend, Ruud van Nistelrooy made just one enforced change to his line-up, bringing Woyo Coulibaly in for his first start with James Justin injured.
And the £3m January signing nearly made an instant impact. Two minutes in, after seeing his cross blocked, he was fastest to the rebound and slammed a shot at goal, Mark Flekken saving.
It was part of an impressive, fast start by City. On the break, Bilal El Khannouss threaded Jamie Vardy through and he twisted Ethan Pinnock inside out before being denied by the Brentford keeper.
But for all the threat they posed in attack, they were shambolic in defence. Every time Brentford came forward, City panicked at the back, forgetting what made them so hard to beat against the Gunners.
Coulibaly, keen to impress, could have given away a penalty for a foul on Kevin Schade, but, moments later, did get back into position to block the German’s shot.
The first goal came in the 17th minute. Mikkel Damsgaard threaded a cut pass through City’s flat-footed defence, with Wissa latching onto the ball and shooting into the ground, off the post and in.
Vardy was again denied by Flekken as City looked for an instant response, but Brentford quickly reasserted their dominance.
They waltzed through the City midfield with ease and Damsgaard had acres of space to find Mbeumo, who did what he does best, curling into the far corner, Victor Kristiansen not getting tight enough.
On the half-hour, it was 3-0, Norgaard running clear of Bobby De Cordova-Reid to head in an alarmingly-simple free-kick move. Boos turned to chants against the board and director of football Jon Rudkin.
It could have been four before the break. Schade hit the post with a header and then Keane Lewis-Potter bundled in after Mads Hermansen had saved Wout Faes from scoring an own goal, only for it to be ruled out for handball.
Van Nistelrooy introduced Jannik Vestergaard and Stephy Mavididi, but with no sign of a City comeback, he added Facundo Buonanotte 10 minutes, Jordan Ayew brought off to loud cheers.
The Argentinian was bright, but not enough to turn the game around in any meaningful way and Carvalho grabbed a fourth for the visitors, hammering in late on, causing arguments between Hermansen and Boubakary Soumare.
Here’s how we scored the players.
Mads Hermansen: He didn’t get close to any of Brentford’s first-half goals, perhaps further suggesting he’s still a little rusty, but he did spare Faes’ blushes, and did make one excellent save to deny Yarmoliuk in the second period. 5
Woyo Coulibaly: So keen was the right-back to impress on his full debut that it verged on recklessness, hence his half-time withdrawal. He was fortunate not to concede a penalty, and clattered Norgaard to get a booking. He was out of position a few times too. But he did look exciting going forward, and nearly scored early on. 4
Wout Faes: There were a few moments where he mopped up well with clearances or blocks, but there were also plenty of Brentford attacks where he was completely bypassed. There were a few reckless lunges and half-hearted passes too. 4
Caleb Okoli: What a shame after two decent displays that he performed like this. Everything was done with panic, the Italian hacking at clearances and his opponents. He lost Wissa for the opening goal and was run ragged when he moved to right-back, looking totally unsuited to the position. 3
Victor Kristiansen: There weren’t too many obvious mistakes, but he didn’t get anywhere near tight enough to Mbeumo for the Brentford second and was dragged out of position a few times too. 4
Wilfred Ndidi: A bad night at the office. He didn’t read the game well enough to make interceptions and left his defence unshielded, while his passing was poor and he made fouls too. 3
Boubakary Soumare: On the ball, he was fine, playing decent forward passes. But off the ball, he was especially poor. He gifted Damsgaard acres for the second goal and his half-hearted attempt at a clearance for the fourth saw Hermansen argue with him. 4Bobby De Cordova-Reid: In the first few minutes, there were signs of decent link-up play with Coulibaly, but that was as good as it got. His crossing was poor and he made no impact in the defensive effort. 3
Bilal El Khannouss: His first-time pass for Vardy early on was superb, and he was always looking for the captain’s runs. He was good throughout when he got onto the ball, but did grow quieter as the match went on. 6
Jordan Ayew: In possession, he was actually okay, using it well to find players in space. But off the ball he was totally lacking energy and tracked back with such little urgency that fans cheered his withdrawal. 4
Jamie Vardy: He was much more lively than in recent games. He did brilliantly to beat Pinnock before being denied by Flekken and saw another shot saved by Brentford keeper just after Wissa’s first. Kept going until the end. 6
Jannik Vestergaard: It was a little desperate at times and he didn’t get near to Wissa when he tried to press him, but he probably did just about make City stronger at the back. 5
Stephy Mavididi: Attacked his full-back a couple of times, but there was no end product. This was his chance to impress given the performance of the starting wingers, but he didn’t deliver. He did get back to defend though. 4
Facundo Buonanotte: His introduction was celebrated in the stands and he responded by dribbling with intent, committing defenders. He just couldn’t quite find Vardy’s runs. 6Oliver Skipp: His short passes were tidy, but anything more audacious failed to come off. 4
Conor Coady: Only on the pitch for a few moments. N/A
Leave a Reply