PLAYER RATINGS
HOW BERTRAND FARED IN HIS FOXES LEAGUE DEBUT
KASPER SCHMEICHEL: A superb first half saw him make countless saves, showing off his quick reactions and fine positioning. In the second half, his distribution was poor, and put City in trouble. 7/10
TIMOTHY CASTAGNE: Solid if unspectacular outing from the Belgian. That Grealish was not as influential as he can be is a plus point for Castagne, but he didn’t offer the attacking threat that Ricardo has this season. 6/10
CAGLAR SOYUNCU: Thankfully, there were no glaring errors this week. He was beaten too easily at times and was dragged out of position, but otherwise did his job defensively, winning headers. He made one excellent intervention on Torres, and was unfortunate with the ricochet for the goal. 6/10
JANNIK VESTERGAARD: A fine full debut by the Dane. His passing, whether short into
Tielemans’ feet or crossfield to a charging Castagne, was very good, while his defensive positioning was excellent as he was routinely in the right place to clear crosses and throw his body in the way of shots. 8/10
RYAN BERTRAND: Joined in the defensive heroics in the first half with a couple of key blocks, but was twice guilty of getting sucked in and leaving Jesus free at the back post. He couldn’t reignite the nice combination with Barnes seen in pre-season. 6/10
WILFRED NDIDI: Shrugged off the ball a couple of times early on, but improved quickly to outmuscle opponents. Won the ball back well for Vardy’s offside goal, but didn’t dominate like he can. 5/10
YOURI TIELEMANS: The man City relied on to get them out of Man City’s press, and while fed some duff passes at times, he usually got his team on the attack with nice forward balls or flicks. Tired in the second half and his passing suffered. 6/10
MARC ALBRIGHTON: Providing the muchneeded out ball for Tielemans and City in the first half, and showed he was on Vardy’s wavelength as always, but didn’t have the pace or trickery to really trouble Man City. 6/10
JAMES MADDISON: He was showing for the ball, and dribbling well, but was holding on to it for just too long, slowing down City’s attacks. Disappeared in the second half and there was a sprinkling of boos when he came off. 5/10
HARVEY BARNES: He was a threat at the back post when City attacked down the right, twice going close, but on the ball, his pace was nullified by Kyle Walker’s speed. 6/10
JAMIE VARDY: Held the ball up well early on, then made good runs down the right, and had Laporte scampering from time to time, setting up Barnes’ two chances. But became less influential as the game went on. 7/10
SUBSTITUTES
JONNY EVANS: Immediately produced an important block, and while he looked a little rusty, that didn’t lead to any errors. 6/10
KELECHI IHEANACHO: Made an instant impact, giving an option, showing strength, threatening in the box, and setting up Lookman’s big chance. 7/10
ADEMOLA LOOKMAN: A lively debut, the winger showing some neat footwork, if his control wasn’t always spot on. He would have had a debut goal if not for Ederson’s speed off his line. 7/10