Pep Guardiola can be really annoying, as anyone who has managed a Premier League Fantasy Football squad in recent years will attest. If you select a Man City player who is in excellent form, he will likely sit on the bench for the following game and earn you just one point for his late-game substitution, unless it is Haaland. Enzo Maresca, Pep’s protege, is unmistakably of a similar mindset. After the thrashing of Southampton, he changed the lineup five times, and today, following the excellent victory over Norwich, he made five changes once more. All of the players who were rotated out were on the bench when Vardy, Pereira, Dewsbury-Hall, Faes, and – for his first start – Fatawu entered the game.
Bristol City, wearing their robin-red pinstripe shirts, was among them.
For the majority of the first half, Leicester had the ball. Bristol did well to hold on as they moved quickly. Fatawu on the right wing was the main threat, while Mavididi on the left was also active. Although both wingers appeared capable of consistently eluding their opponents, the final pass was never quite adequate. When there were no viable passing alternatives, Faes, Pereira, and Vestergaard carried the ball up the pitch rather frequently.
When Andy King warmed up after 30 minutes, there was chanting from the home crowd, even though we ultimately did not get to see him play.
The Bristol goalkeeper, O’Leary, did not have to work particularly hard to keep a clean sheet up until halftime despite Leicester having a handful of shots on goal. This season, Leicester has occasionally lost opportunities by taking too many passes, which has angered the home crowd. Unusually, players squandered more opportunities in the first half by attempting to dribble past too many defenders. The second half saw far less of this, but it’s tough to determine whether that was by chance or as a result of the team meeting at halftime.
Up until the final five seconds of the half, Bristol posed no offensive danger at all, and even then, it produced no significant chances. In fact, in extra time, their pressure up front almost resulted in another of the numerous goals Leicester has already scored this season, but the breakaway opportunity was lost in this instance, and the game ended scoreless.
It was nice to see The Birch making an announcement at halftime because he hasn’t been around much this season. The Leicestershire County Cricket team, who had just won the County’s first major trophy since 1985, was introduced by him. As they carried the trophy around the field, they received a warm welcome from spectators all throughout the stadium, including the Bristol supporters.
After playing right back in the Southampton game, Justin started the second half for Leicester in place of Doyle at left back, highlighting the squad’s versatility once more.
City started off lot more incisive. They generated two good chances in the opening five minutes of the half, and Bristol had two players cautioned for fouling City players who had outrun them in speed. It was delightful to watch Vestergaard take a free kick from 30 yards out from the second of these. Sadly, it struck the top of the wall and soared out for a corner kick; had he scored, it would have been a fitting reward for his yet another strong performance—his nth consecutive this season—and a terrific way to cap off a good game.
Leicester kept coming up with opportunities to attack, but frequently the last cross was not quite good enough. It appeared as though the game was developing into a preview of the Conservative Party’s chances at the next General Election, should the red wall hold. Bristol continued to play with organization, but they were plainly starting to find the speed a touch too much now. In the 57th minute, Pearson made three adjustments. As a result, the situation stabilized a little bit, and Bristol briefly maintained control. This led to Faes receiving a yellow card for pulling down a player wide on the half-way line who had just turned past him.
The impasse was finally broken. Ndidi received a lovely through ball from Pereira. The Nigerian is starting to present himself as a forward who is incredibly calm these days. He did not instantly attempt a shot, as he might have on the few occasions he had offensive possibilities in past years, as happened at Norwich. Instead, he spun the defender to acquire a better angle before being brought down by an unsportsmanlike challenge for a clear penalty.
Vardy rose to accept it. The singing about his wife by the Bristol supporters got louder. Vardy took a shot that initially appeared to go over the crossbar, but it turned out to be a flawless shot that gave the goalkeeper no chance. Vardy then ran the entire length of the field in celebration in front of the opposing supporters.
Leicester finally made a breakthrough, thus it seems likely that they would gain more, but that did not occur. After a few more substitutes were made by Pearson, Bristol started to press Leicester for the first time. Leicester playing the ball at the back to play around a press is still something that the home fans is still getting used to. There is a worry that everything can go wrong, but on this particular day, Pereira’s sloppy back pass allowed Bristol to miss a chance.
McAteer took Fatawu’s place. Both McAteer, whose recent goal-scoring accomplishments had already made him well-liked, and Fatawu, who had been the most striking player, received a hearty round of applause.
Vardy and Ndidi were replaced by Iheanacho and Casadei with three minutes remaining in the game. There were four additional minutes noted. Iheanacho took a corner in an effort to keep the ball and buy time as Leicester played to preserve their one-nil lead.
Hermansen dropped the ball at one point, and Bristol generated a few other opportunities as they tested the Leicester defense while giving it their all. To the credit of Nigel Pearson and his backroom staff, Bristol maintained its sharp appearance throughout the last ten minutes against Leicester when many other teams this season have faltered against Leicester. This was aided by the fact that five of the outfield players were replacements.
Vestergaard was awarded a rather straightforward free kick with one minute left, 20 yards from the goal of Leicester. It would have been unfortunate if that had led to an equalizer for both Leicester and the nearly faultless Vestergaard, but Hermansen had no trouble stopping the shot, and soon the game was over.
Following the final whistle, the players from both teams mixed before Nigel Pearson, to the warm cheers of both sets of supporters, entered the field on crutches. While making a round of the field, Andy King and Matty James cheered on the Leicester supporters and received cheers of their own.
Leicester is now in first place in the Championship, ahead of Ipswich on goal differential, and they achieved this by resting players and deploying nearly the entire team. Preston merely drew, however. The season has off to a strong start.
Leicester City
Hermansen, Ricardo Pereira, Faes, Vestergaard, Doyle, Ndidi, Winks, Dewsbury-Hall, Fatawu, Vardy, Mavididi
Substitutes
Justin, Coady, Casadei, Albrighton, Iheanacho, Choudhury, Akgün, McAteer, Stolarczyk
Bristol City
O’Leary, Tanner, Dickie, Naismith, Pring, James, Williams, Sykes, Knight, Bell, Wells
Substitutes
Cornick, King, Mehmeti, Weimann, Gardner-Hickman, Bajic, Roberts, Yeboah, Nelson
