Phillips flick does the trick
WEST BROMWICH threatened to derail Leicester’s title charge on their last visit to the King Power stadium and Tony Pulis was at it again yesterday, inflicting a damaging defeat in entirely different circumstances.
The champions’ record of 20 Premier League games unbeaten at home is gone, wrestled away by goals from James Morrison and Matt Phillips, and Leicester are now only two points above the relegation zone.
nobody expects Claudio ranieri’s side to be in a scrap for survival come May but the same was said about their challenge for supremacy this time last year.
ranieri suggested his players could be suffering from Champions League fatigue after the trip to Copenhagen, but with their schedule in that competition set to continue into 2017, the italian needs a solution to their underwhelming domestic form.
West Brom were good value for victory, with Pulis once again drilling his players supremely. he did the same in March when a 2-2 draw looked to have scuppered Leicester’s title ambitions only for their nearest challengers to slip up the following night. Pulis went one better this time, managing what the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea, and Liverpool have failed to do over the past 14 months.
Jamie Vardy started on the bench, with ranieri reinstating islam slimani after his short injury lay-off and continuing to trust in shinji okazaki’s work ethic.
The Leicester manager believed West Brom could be prised apart with crosses from the wings, rendering slimani’s aerial ability particularly valuable. But after an opening half of frantic gesticulations from his technical area, ranieri made a change at the break, replacing okazaki with Vardy.
ranieri said: ‘i didn’t play slimani in the Champions League and i wanted to give Vards a rest. But it wasn’t right, they didn’t do what i asked. We made a plan to go on the flank and make crosses. But we made very few. so in second half i introduced Vardy to attack the defensive line.’
Vardy improved Leicester’s balance but there was still no goal for the england striker, extending his barren run to 12 club games. At the other end, ron- robert Zieler replaced Kasper schmeichel as the Dane began his spell on the sidelines through a broken hand.
Just 130 seconds into the contest, Zieler showed his worth. Phillips took advantage of a slight miscontrol by Andy King to stride into the area and hit low strike that was heading for the bottom corner until Zieler nudged the ball wide with the deftest of fingertips.
The German had no answer in the 52nd minute. salomon rondon muscled Leicester out of a counterattack and the ball came to Phillips on the right. his cross popped up off Christian Fuchs and neatly into the path of Morrison, who applied an excellent glancing header beyond Zieler.
Going behind seemed to spur Leicester into action and within three minutes they were level. slimani sprayed possession wide to riyad Mahrez, who controlled and whipped over a cross. By now slimani had moved unmarked into the six-yard box, with Vardy occupying Jonny evans, and he met the ball with conviction.
But West Brom’s harrying style can induce mistakes and with 18 minutes to go Danny Drinkwater gave them an opportunity to retake the lead. his backpass was desperately underhit, enabling Phillips to race beyond Wes Morgan and go one-on-one with Zieler. still, the finish was special, a delicate flick that sent the ball rolling over the line.
Pulis said: ‘The biggest problem with Matt is that self-belief. he’s got all the tools, he’s very quick, he’s got two great feet. We had a chat with him last week. he has to start understanding that he’s a good player and he deserves to be where he is.’
SUPER STAT: Leicester failed to register an attempt on goal in the first half of a home game since returning to the Premier League.
LEICESTER (4-4-2): Zieler 6.5; Simpson 6, Morgan 6, Huth 6 (Ulloa 87min), Fuchs 6; Mahrez 6, Drinkwater 5.5, King 6, Musa 5 (Gray 67, 6); Okazaki 5 (Vardy 45 6), Slimani 6. Scorer: Slimani 55. Subs not used: Albrighton, Hamer, Amartey, Schlupp. WEST BROMWICH (4-1-4-1): Foster 6; Dawson 6.5, Evans 6, McAuley 6.5, Nyom 6.5; Yacob 6.5; Phillips 8 (Gardner 83), Fletcher 7, Morrison 7.5 (Robson-Kanu 90), Brunt 7; Rondon 7.5. Scorers: Morrison 52, Phillips 72. Booked: Gardner, Brunt. Subs not used: Myhill, Galloway, Leko, Field, Wilson. Man of the match: Matt Phillips. Referee: Craig Pawson 6.5.