LEICESTER 0 WOLVES .... 0
Old golden chances go begging
BIG-MONEY teenager Fabio Silva missed a golden chance to give struggling Wolves the win this performance deserved.
Credit to Foxes goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel for somehow managing to get a foot in the way of Silva’s shot and turn it around for a corner, but he really should not have been given a chance.
It is harsh to be too critical of the 18-year-old, who is still finding his feet in the hustle and bustle of the Premier League.
But the kid cost £35million when he made the switch from Porto and really needs to be sticking away these kind of chances.
He was just seven yards out and with the goal seemingly at his mercy when the ball fell into his path 12 minutes from time.
Any sort of contact to take it to Schmeichel’s right and the big Danish keeper would not have been able to intervene.
But Silva tried to put it low and straight and wily Schmeichel got the faintest of touches with his boot.
Wolves were good value had they banked the three points and Ruben Neves was left cursing one real miss and one speculative effort.
But the home side could have seen it all snatched away from them right near the end of the game when Jamie Vardy, who had
come off the bench, threatened to do what he does best.
Vardy (below left, with James Maddison) made a great run to meet Marc Albrighton’s cross and get his head to it, but the ball flashed just wide of a post.
Both sides had contributed to an extremely competitive game which had not thrown up the number of chances which might reasonably have been expected from such an open match.
In fact, it was Wolves who probably felt more aggrieved not to be ahead at the interval after having by far the best two opportunities.
In the 11th minute, Leicester failed to properly clear a Joao Moutinho corner and were lucky not to pay the price. The ball ended up falling to Neves in space 12 yards out.
The midfielder could not quite believe how much time and space he had and ended up blazing the ball over with a clear route to goal. Five minutes later it was Wolves again asking questions when they carved the visitors open down their right flank. Pedro Neto showed a clean pair of heels to both Jonny Evans and Youri Tielemans as he cut his way to the byline before pulling it back straight into the path of Adama Traore, lurking on the penalty spot. The winger managed to get his shot away but not quite in enough time to stop James Justin making a superb interception to divert the ball away for a corner.
Minutes into the second half, it was Neves again who was presented with an opportunity – this time from his preferred distance of 20 yards out – but once more he curled his shot too far over the top to trouble Schmeichel.
Then Traore seized on an opportunity to whip the ball away from Hamza Choudhury and went darting away, only to be bodychecked to the floor by Caglar Soyuncu who was instantly shown a yellow card by referee Martin Atkinson for his cynical intervention.