Kelechi Iheanacho hits hat-trick as Leicester thrash sorry Sheffield United
So it looks like Chris Wilder was not the problem at Sheffield United. Fancy that.
In their first match for nearly five years since separating from the manager who inspired their rise from League One to the top flight, the Blades fell to their heaviest defeat in over a decade.
Leicester, eager to solidify their position in the top four, could have won by even more, as Brendan Rodgers’s team utterly outclassed the visitors. Kelechi Iheanacho scored his first hat-trick for the club and Ayoze Pérez chipped in with a fine goal before Ethan Ampadu turned a shot by Jamie Vardy into his own net.
The Blades were under the charge of their under-23s coach, Paul Heckingbottom, who has been given the reins on a caretaker manager basis until the end of the season. There was little scope for him to make radical changes to Wilder’s formula before this game so it was no surprise to see the visitors
set out in their familiar shape and style. United’s did not show a lack of effort in the wake of Wilder’s departure, but their focus and quality were seriously in doubt.
“Leicester were ruthless but this has been a difficult, emotional week for the players and I think that has taken a toll,” Heckingbottom said afterwards. “Chris was the leader in that dressing room on a daily basis and someone the players have shared a lot of good times and success with, so this is a tough time. I feel for the players because I know what they’re going through. But I can’t let them feel too sorry for themselves because whoever the next manager is will be watching them now.” Whoever that is will know they have a big job on his hands to regain the vibrancy they had for most of Wilder’s reign.
With their first touch here United kicked off, their second was an example of mis-control by Ollie Norwood. That set the template for a game that Leicester dominated. Vardy was the first to threaten. He dragged a shot wide from 20 yards but the fact that it came after he dispossessed one of United’s strikers, Billy Sharp, midway inside United’s half encapsulated the pattern of play. Leicester were hungry, United sloppy.
Vardy got involved again in the 12th minute, spraying the ball wide for Timothy Castagne to cross in from the left. Pérez darted into the box and flicked a header beyond goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale but against the foot of the post.
Pérez, returning to the side after a month out with injury, was assigned an interesting role by Rodgers. He was deployed just behind the front two of Vardy and Iheanacho in an effort to help fill the creativity deficit caused by the absences of James Maddison and Harvey Barnes. The plan worked well. Although United defended tenaciously, they could not eradicate mistakes.
Vardy nearly broke through after nicking the ball off Kean Bryan in the United box, but Ramsdale saved with his legs. At the other end, Kasper Schmeichel must have felt like an extra in a movie being filmed on another set.
Leicester finally turned possession into penetration in the 38th minute. Pérez created the goal by flipping a clever pass behind Chris Basham into the path of Vardy, who supplied a perfect cross from the left, leaving Iheanacho to slot into the net from close range.
The hosts never looked like letting their lead slip. Iheanacho presented Vardy with a chance to make it 2-0 just after half-time, unselfishly cutting the ball back for his teammate when he could have take a shot himself. Vardy whacked the ball towards goal from seven yards but Basham repelled it with a terrific header off the line. Moments later Ramsdale denied Vardy after another cute pass by Iheanacho.
Leicester eventually got their second thanks to a rapid counterattack and another demonstration of their superior sharpness. After a United freekick at the other end was cleared, Marc Albrighton caught George Baldock dawdling on the ball and raced downfield before feeding Pérez, who guided a fine shot into the net from 20 yards.
Iheanacho claimed his second goal of the game – and his fourth in three matches – by applying an emphatic finish after another cross from the left by Vardy, who had been released by Youri Tielemans.
Soon Iheanacho completed his hattrick, ramming a shot into the net from distance after Ampadu had the ball robbed off him in midfield.
All that was missing for Leicester was a goal for Vardy. He had to settle for another assist when he blasted the ball across the face of goal and Ampadu diverted it into the net.