City stay strong to earn an important point in the battle for a top-four place
CITY VERDICT KASPER AND KELECHI PROVIDE THE HEROICS
Nick Pope Matthew Lowton James Tarkowski Ben Mee Charlie Taylor Josh Brownhill Ashley Westwood jack Cork Dwight McNeil Matej Vydra Chris Wood Subs: Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Dale Stephens, Jay Rodriguez, Erik Pieters, Phil Bardsley, Kevin Long, Jimmy Dunne, Lewis Richardson, Josh Benson
THEY may be running out of players, but Leicester City are not running out of fight as they battled to a point at Burnley.
Heading to Turf Moor without eight senior players and on the back of two defeats in the previous seven days, City could have wilted under the physicality of the Clarets, but they stood up strong to claim a point, and could have even nicked all three.
A slow start cost them an early goal as Matej Vydra picked off Hamza Choudhury’s pass, but Kelechi Iheanacho had Brendan Rodgers’ side level at the break thanks to an exceptional volley.
Then, in an open second half, Kasper Schmeichel came to City’s rescue with an out-of-this-world save, before both sides hit the post as they pushed for a winner, the visitors coming on strong as the fulltime whistle was blown.
The game was two years to the day after Rodgers’ first in the hotseat, and the manager was perhaps enduring the toughest predicament of his reign.
His side had been knocked out of the Europa League, had been dominated at home by Arsenal, and now, without any rest, travelled to Burnley without a glut of players missing.
Two of those on the injury list, James Maddison and Harvey Barnes, had scored 11 of the club’s 19 Premier League goals since Christmas. Despite sitting third in the table, it was fair to say City
Hamza Choudhury and Papy Mendy came in to take the number of defensive midfielders in the line-up to three
were in a spot of bother.
And they looked to be staring at a third straight defeat for the first time under Rodgers when Burnley capitalised on some shoddy early play, but from there they held their own, claiming a point that, for now, increased their cushion inside the top four to six points.
With the latest two injuries, to Barnes and Jonny Evans, taking City’s tally to eight, Rodgers said he would have to get “creative” with his set-up, and that he did.
Hamza Choudhury and Papy Mendy came into the side to take the number of defensive midfielders in the line-up to three, but that saw Wilfred Ndidi drop back into the middle of a back three with Daniel Amartey and Caglar Soyuncu.
Ricardo Pereira and Timothy Castagne were providing the width, with Youri Tielemans the creativity from the middle, with Iheanacho and Jamie Vardy up front.
But it wasn’t just injuries City had to overcome, it was tiredness too, with plenty of players running on empty against Arsenal.
And it seemed they had not had enough time to recover, with City producing a laboured start and Burnley taking advantage. There was a warning when Ben Mee headed over inside a minute, but City did not speed up, and gifted the hosts an opener.
It was a simple ball for Choudhury to play back to Ndidi, but he made a hash of it, selling his teammate short, and Vydra nicked in, the Czech striker sharper than Ndidi.
And despite having not scored in the Premier League for more than a year, he didn’t snatch at his chance, finishing with composure high into the net.
City were still struggling with the basics, but in their response, they did create chances, and Choudhury had an opportunity to make amends.
Castagne delivered a sublime cross from the left and Choudhury’s pace had seen him run clear of any markers. But he is not renowned for his finishing, and he bundled the ball into the ground, rather than hit it cleanly, and that gave Nick Pope the chance to get across and tip over.
Although Turf Moor has seen fewer goals than any other Premier League ground this season, there continued to be chances at both ends.
Burnley’s came courtesy of Soyuncu’s struggles to stay upright. Twice the Turk slipped, and while he recovered to tackle former City striker Chris Wood for the first, he had his goalkeeper to thank for the second when he fell over at the back post, the New