SAM FOXES ‘EM
Greenwood stunner smashes leaders’ record
EIGHT days after Leeds stalled the Leicester juggernaut, an Elland Road loanee condemned the Championship leaders to a second defeat on the bounce.
Sam Greenwood became the first Championship player to score against the Foxes in the final half an hour of a game, shattering their 100 per cent away record.
He sealed an impressive Middlesbrough victory with a super 25-yard free-kick in the 83rd minute, finding the top corner of Mads Hermansen’s net with deadly accuracy.
Boro had been hanging on for much of a second half played almost entirely in home territory but their discipline never wavered.
And Greenwood, who is set to join Boro on a permanent basis in May, made Leicester pay for wasting several chances with his fourth goal in six games.
Boro boss Michael Carrick said: “Leicester ask a lot of questions of you and in the second half they didn’t let us breathe but we defended the box ever so well.
“We showed a different side to us but the effort from everyone was immense. It’s a very big win.”
Kiernan Dewsbury-hall should have fired Leicester ahead five minutes after the restart but could not capitalise on Jonny Howson’s loose pass, firing wildly off target from the edge of the box.
Boro keeper Seny Dieng had a strange game, swaying from hero one minute to potential villain the next, with his wayward distribution always offering Leicester some hope.
On 76 minutes, he gave away possession but then redeemed himself with a fine save to deny Kelechi Iheanacho, who then saw his clever dink hit the post moments later.
Foxes boss Enzo Maresca said: “We controlled the game and created five or six clear chances. But then they score a fantastic goal. That is football!”
The opening 45 minutes had underlined why Leicester are the best side in the Championship and Boro arguably the most improved after their early-season woes. No surprise therefore that the opening period ended all square with the only shock being that it remained goalless.
That was partially down to Carrick’s clever tactics in countering the many threats in the Foxes side.
It also owed much to the brilliance of the two goalkeepers, who both produced breathtaking saves.
Boro’s Dieng was first to impress, hurling himself to his right to get a strong hand on
Jannik Vestergaard’s thunderous header. Then, right on the stroke of half-time, Hermansen matched his glove rival’s acrobatics, with an equally spectacular save to keep out centre back Dael Fry’s near-post header.
And he also did superbly to foil Matt Crooks twice in a minute. MIDDLESBROUGH: Dieng 7; van der Berg 6, Fry 7, Mcnair 6, Engel 7; Howson 6, Hackney 7; Jones 6 (Dijksteel (90) 6), Crooks 7 (Rodgers (68) 6), Greenwood 8; Coburn 6 (Latte Lath (73) 6) LEICESTER: Hermansen 8; Choudbury 7 (Vardy (85) 6), Faes 7, Vestergaard 6, Justin 7; Ricardo 7, Winks 7, Dewsbury-hall 6; Mcateer 6 (Fatawu (58) 6), Iheanacho 6 Mavididi 7 STAR MAN: Sam Greenwood –Iit took something special to beat Leicester and he provided it. REF: Oliver Langford 8