PANTO VILLAIN
No festive spirit for Norwich after Iheanacho antics
EVERY festive fixture needs a pantomime villain and Kelechi Iheanacho auditioned early.
On an afternoon when Leicester City’s chances of another miracle title went from slim to none, the lasting image was of Norwich players surrounding the Foxes striker, utterly incensed by what they regarded as a double-whammy of poor sportsmanship.
With Leicester trailing 1-0 after half an hour, Iheanacho failed to return the ball after Norwich had kicked it out so Emiliano Buendia could receive treatment.
Instead, the £25million Nigeria striker headed towards the penalty area where he was tripped by Christoph Zimmerman and rolled over so many times even Neymar would have been embarrassed.
Todd Cantwell, the angriest of several angry Norwich players, grabbed Iheanacho in the face as he lay on the floor, but the Foxes forward even exaggerated that, holding his throat as if he’d been severely choked.
It was a relief when Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers hooked Iheanacho seven minutes after the incident, though he claimed it was tactical.
Norwich may be in trouble for failing to control their players but manager Daniel Farke could see why they had such strength of feeling. ‘ I was furious too,’ he said. ‘First Buendia was caught with a straight leg tackle. The referee was there so I don’t know why he didn’t stop play.
‘I think fair play is known everywhere. We were expecting the ball back from the throw but Leicester used the situation to try to score a goal. It could even have been a red card [for Zimmerman]. That would have been the cherry on the cake.
‘Thank God it wasn’t given or they didn’t score from the free-kick.’
Asked if Iheanacho had exaggerated the foul, Farke said: ‘It is not classy for me to talk about an opponent. It is up to you.’
Only Iheanacho knows for sure if he was unaware of the usual protocol but Rodgers said: ‘Young Kelechi misread the situation. I don’t know what he was thinking.
‘ Most times the ball would be given back. Then it led to a situation that could have led to a red card which would have been unfortunate. The substitution was to change our shape. He was obviously disappointed but it was nothing personal.’
The farce summed up Leicester’s day. A disappointing draw ended a run of nine wins and nd left them 10 points behind hind leaders Liverpool, l, whom they face on n Boxing Day.
Even Jamie Vardy was denied extending his run of eight goals in eight games. His header from James Maddison’s corner went in n for Leicester’s equalaliser but was credited as a Tim Krul own goal after fter TV replays showed the ball was going wide until the goalkeeper palmed it in.
Second top versus second bottom looked a mismatch on paper but it didn’t work out like that. Krul had awkwardly pushed a Youri Tielemans shot on to a post as Leicester created the first chance. But the visitors grew into the game and it wasn’t a surprise when they scored first after 26 minutes. Buendia found space in the middle and produced pa wonderful pass that split Leicester Lei defenders B Ben Chil well and C Caglar Soyuncu for T Teemu Pukki to run onto. Soyuncu tried to chase the Finnish striker down but P Pukki kept his comp posure to slot a precis cise finish just inside Kas Kasper Schmeichel’s rightright-hand post. It was P Pukki’s third goal in four games and 16th in total this season for club and country. Leicester looked lethargic. Strangely, it needed Iheanacho’s provocation towards the visitors to rouse them and, after 38 minutes, Maddison swung in a corner and Vardy’s flick went in via a diversion from Krul.
Rodgers immediately withdrew Iheanacho for Demarai Gray and made his second change at halftime: Harvey Barnes for Dennis Praet. They did showed more fluency in their usual 4-3-3, but not enough to win.
Vardy had three chances to score a winner but was twice denied by Krul and once by a block from Max Aarons.
At the other end, Buendia’s lofted pass found Pukki free on goal until Soyuncu raced back to make a fantastic covering block.
Things don’t get any easier for Leicester now. They have a League Cup quarter- final at Everton on Wednesday night followed by league games against Manchester City and Liverpool. Rodgers continues to dampen expectations.
‘ A title race isn’t anything we have ever spoken about. Everyone else has,’ said Rodgers. ‘The players have been brilliant. We weren’t quite at that level today, we started too slowly, but we will press the reset button.’
The outcome was best of all for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, who are more consistent than their rivals.
‘I will check my phone to see if he sent me a text of congratulations,’ smiled Farke about his fellow German.