TERRIFIC TIELEMANS!
Belgian pulls the strings as Leicester ease past Bees
THINK of Leicester and the first images to spring to mind are of Jamie Vardy scoring, James Maddison creating and Kasper Schmeichel dominating his goal. Yet their best player this season is rapidly proving to be one of the smartest transfer deals in Premier League history. As he has been for most of the season, Youri Tielemans was imperious in midfield as Brendan Rodgers’s side turned a sticky situation at half-time into a convincing victory over Brentford to set up a fifth-round tie at home to Brighton. Without the injured Vardy, who will be out for about two weeks after a hernia operation over the weekend, Leicester trailed at half-time to Mads Bech Sorensen’s scrambled effort in the seventh minute. But Cengiz Under equalised a minute after the break before Tielemans converted a penalty and James Maddison sealed the win on 71 minutes.
Leicester’s recruitment has been rightly praised in recent years and at £32million from Monaco in the summer of 2019, record signing Tielemans might be the best of the lot.
The Belgian was captain for the day with Schmeichel rested and he organised those around him, showing class and character to drag Leicester back into the match. This was the 23-year-old’s 26th appearance of the season yet he looked so fresh and energetic that it could have been his first.
He is now one of the best midfielders in the top flight and if
Tielemans were ever to leave Leicester, they could probably command nearly three times what they paid for him.
‘We are a very hungry team,’ said Rodgers (right). ‘In the second half we were exceptional — our quality was very high.’
The wintry weather forced groundstaff to use leaf blowers to clear snow from the pitch and Leicester — who made eight changes — were caught cold early.
Marcus Forss nipped in front of Daniel Amartey at the near post to flick on Vitaly Janelt’s corner. The ball looped up off Nampalys Mendy and allowed Sorensen to prod it goalwards, where Danny
Ward could only palm it into the net.
Brentford looked dangerous whenever they moved forward, with Leicester especially shaky defending set pieces.
Back- up centre halves Amartey — in particular — and Caglar Soyuncu struggled.
If Leicester were below par in the first half, in the second they were ferocious. They were soon on terms as Soyuncu dispossessed Saman Ghoddos on halfway and when the ball broke to Maddison, he held off Sorensen and Jan Zamburek before feeding Under to his right. The Turk’s left foot did the rest from 15 yards. The visitors took the lead in the 51st minute. Tielemans was tripped by Fosu and he stepped up to send Luke Daniels the wrong way from the penalty spot. In the 71st minute Under’s crossfield ball found Harvey Barnes, who charged into the box. Daniels could only push his shot into the path of Maddison, who crowned another excellent display with his fourth goal in as many matches. ‘We delivered a decent performance, especially in the first half, and then it was a soft penalty but we lost the match fair and square,’ said Bees boss Thomas Frank. ‘It was a bit of magic from Maddison for the equaliser — what a player.’ BRENTFORD (4-3-3): Daniels 6.5; Roerslev 6, Pinnock 7, Bech Sorensen 6, Stevens 6; Zamburek 6.5 (Haygarth 84min), Janelt 6.5 (Jensen 64, 6), Ghoddos 6 (Gilbert 79, 6); Canos 5.5 (Pressley 64, 6), Forss 7, Fosu 6. Subs not used: Raya, Henry, Dalsgaard, Gordon. Scorer: Sorensen 7. Booked: Zamburek. Manager: Thomas Frank 6.5. (4-2-3-1): Ward 7; Pereira 7 (Castagne 70, 6.5), Amartey 5, Soyuncu 5.5, Thomas 6;
Scorers: