Curse of the corners haunts Leicester again
They concede for 11th time this season to gift Hammers a point
LEICESTER were booed off at the King Power, which after a stirring second-half performance may have seemed a little hard on Brendan Rodgers and his players.
But when there is a clear weakness in a team and nobody around who appears to want to fix it, supporters’ patience can wear a little thin.
What is it about Leicester City and corners? Rodgers’ team seem unable to defend them this season.
The goal they conceded to Craig Dawson in the 91st minute was the 11th from a corner of their Premier League season.
At the end of a terrific second half, it put paid to what had been a worthy and entertaining comeback and left Leicester 11th, closer to the relegation places than the European spots. That is a fall from grace on recent efforts.
There was something mildly welcoming about the fact we at least ended the game talking about a West Ham centre back who was not Kurt Zouma.
Dawson’s goal came almost two hours after Zouma had left the warm-up complaining of dizziness. The Frenchman — under so much scrutiny after his assault on his pet cat last week — was withdrawn from the team, at least allowing us to concentrate on the football.
The equaliser seemed at first as though it had gone in off Dawson’s upper arm and was checked by VAR, who must have deemed it to have hit his shoulder.
It was a close call but enough to give West Ham a point and maintain their forward trajectory under David Moyes.
Early in the game they had been vastly superior. It is to West Ham’s credit that they managed to withstand the chaos caused by Zouma’s behaviour at the start of last week to win at home to Watford. Here, they carried on in that vein, at least for 45 minutes. There is still a thinness about Moyes’ squad though that may derail their attempts to finish in the top four but a top six placing should not be beyond them.
They play calm, measured and organised football under their calm, measured and organised manager and have players who can produce something important and memorable when a little bit extra is required.
Currently that player is Jarrod Bowen. There is perhaps not a more likeable player in the Premier League and in only the 10th minute he scored his seventh goal in as many games.
The build-up was rather rudimentary. Zouma’s replacement, Issa Diop, put his foot through the ball from deep and as the Leicester back four pushed up in something other than a straight line, Bowen was able to run through and fire low and true across Kasper Schmeichel and into the corner with his left foot.
It was the finish of a confident forward. On days like this, it must seem easy.
For Leicester, the opposite was true. Lacking confidence after a hammering at Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup and a relatively meek defeat at Liverpool, Rodgers’s players were anxious, hesitant and prone to individual errors. The only thing to calm them during a first half that West Ham controlled was the fact the Londoners did not score again.
When Leicester equalised it was from nowhere. Aaron Cresswell attempted to head clear a corner at the end of the first half but succeeded only in striking the ball with his elbow.
Youri Tielemans swept in the penalty with his right foot and from then on this was a game the home team dominated.
The transformation was as complete as it was remarkable. Harvey Barnes was Leicester’s best player and much of the danger flowed down the left side,
where he terrorised West Ham’s Vladimir Coufal to such an extent the right back was taken off.
By then Leicester were in the lead. Tielemans floated a diagonal pass to Barnes in the 57th minute and when he landed a cross on Ricardo Pereira’s head, the Leicester right back outmuscled the unfortunate Cresswell to ensure he scored.
By now Leicester were more like the Leicester we know and admire, full of purpose, hustle and intent. Barnes could have scored himself, as could Tielemans when his team-mate set him up.
It did not look as if it would matter, though, as West Ham were by now invisible as an attacking force. Indeed, their own equaliser had been as hard to see coming as Leicester’s a while earlier.
But another worrying Leicester habit is to finish games badly. Five of the last seven goals they have conceded in the Premier League have come in the final 10 minutes.
Rodgers can comfort himself with the fact he knows exactly where the problem lies. Now he just has to fix it. LEICESTER CITY: (4-2-3-1) Schmeichel 6; Pereira 7, Soyuncu 6, Amartey 6, Justin 6 (Thomas 30min, 6); Tielemans 7.5, Ndidi 6.5; Maddison 6.5 (Lookman 73, 6), Dewsbury-Hall 6, BARNES 8; Daka 6. Scorer: Tielemans 43 (pen), Pereira 57. Booked: Pereira. Manager: Brendan Rodgers 7.5. WEST HAM UNITED: (4-2-3-1) Fabianski 6; Coufal 5 (Fredericks 66, 6), Diop 6, Dawson 7, Cresswell 5; Soucek 6.5, Rice 6; Bowen 7, Lanzini 6.5 (Benrahma 79), Fornals 6 (Vlasic 79); Antonio 6. Scorer: Bowen 10, Dawson 90. Booked: Cresswell, Rice. Manager: David Moyes 6. Referee: Michael Oliver 6. Attendance: 32,061.