SLIMANI KICKS OUT KLOPP
Wonder strike puts Leicester through and leaves Jurgen feeling the pain
This match may not have had the scintillating impact of Craig shakespeare’s first meeting with Liverpool as Leicester’s manager but the end result was the same. Leicester victorious, Jurgen Klopp nauseous.
in February Liverpool were blown away under the King Power floodlights as shakespeare made his bow having replaced Claudio Ranieri. Although this victory took a little more time to secure, it was a clear margin in the end.
Liverpool dominated the first half but once Jurgen Klopp removed Philippe Coutinho at the interval his team lost their spark. shinji Okazaki broke the deadlock midway through the second period and 12 minutes from time islam slimani provided the exclamation mark with a strike that ripped into the roof of the net.
Defeat irritated Klopp, who said he felt ‘really, really sick’ at Liverpool’s defending for the goals. solving that problem must become a priority for the German if he is to entertain ambitions of winning silverware. The Carabao Cup can already be chalked off and although it may not have been a priority, defeat made it four games without a win.
These two will meet here again on saturday evening in the Premier League. Last night priorities were in evidence at the outset, with shakespeare making seven changes and Klopp seven.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain made his full Liverpool debut — on the right wing rather than in centre-midfield and it was an errorstrewn performance. By contrast Coutinho was very much in the mood. in the 10th minute he found a route through Vicente iborra and Wilfred Ndidi to strike from the edge of the box. Ben hamer punched clear.
Another burst from Coutinho set up Dominic solanke, whose shot was blocked to Andrew Roberston. he shot wide. And on the stroke of half-time Coutinho’s wriggling run was adorned with a beautifully deft pass to solanke, who again wasted the chance.
Job done in terms of gaining match sharpness, Coutinho was replaced at the break. Leonardo Ulloa was forced off having fallen awkwardly, with Okazaki on as replacement. That substation changed the dynamic.
Liverpool only cleared Marc Albrighton’s corner as far as Ben Chilwell, who delivered the perfect, lofted pass back into the area. Wes Morgan headed square and Okazaki arrived to steer the ball home via a deflection.
in search of an equaliser, Klopp sent on Danny ings for his first appearances since last October.
But it was Leicester who scored. From a throw-in, Okazaki fed slimani and the Algerian bustled his way to the edge of the area, then hit the purest left-foot shot.
‘The story of this game is really easy to explain,’ said Klopp. ‘ We were the much better team in the first half, didn’t score. But as long as we concede goals as we did again here it is quite difficult.
‘The first goal was a second ball after a corner and the only thing you can do is to push up. We didn’t.
‘The second one is a throw in and everybody can imagine we know how to defend them, but again we didn’t. That we conceded like this makes me really, really sick.
‘Nobody is interested in who plays the better first half. Everybody was interested in who goes through. We are not a team who is in the next round. it doesn’t feel too cool.’
shakespeare said: ‘ We led a charmed life in the first half. i was delighted they took Coutinho off.
‘shinji was a major factor in the win. We showed a lot of resilience and character to come back.’