FOXES GET A EURO LEG UP
Daka & Co Madd for it
JAMES MADDISON delivered last night to help propel Leicester from the bottom of the group to the top as King Power boos turned to cheers.
Brendan Rodgers’ men have hit the front in perfect time with just one game left away at Napoli on December 9.
Only top spot guarantees a last-16 place and Leicester tore into Warsaw last night with serious intent after being booed off against Chelsea.
Patson Daka opened the scoring early on before Maddison produced a brilliant Cryuff turn and finish to make it 2-0. Warsaw pulled a goal back but Maddison’s pin-point corner picked out Wilfred Ndidi to make it 3-1 before the break.
Leicester were reassuringly compact and solid in the second half to see out the game.
It compounded Legia’s misery as the Polish outfit endure their worst run in 85 years.
But Leicester won’t care a jot and they showed character after losing key defender Jonny Evans in the warm-up.
It didn’t stop the hosts from making a fast start. They took the lead in the 11th minute after Luke Thomas won possession and released Harvey Barnes. His run to the edge of the box was halted but the ricochet fell kindly for Daka who turned and buried it.
If that goal was a little fortunate, given how the ball broke kindly for Daka, then the hosts’ second was pure class.
Maddison exchanged passes with Ademola Lookman, then bamboozled the defence before curling a left-foot finish.
But Leicester’s advantage was halved when Ndidi was penalised for handball in the box.
Mahir Emreli’s spot-kick was saved by Kasper Schmeichel but Filip Mladenovic reacted quickest and had a tap-in. Yet it didn’t take the hosts long to restore their twogoal advantage.
Maddison turned provider as his corner picked out Ndidi to glance past keeper Cezary Miszta in the 33rd minute – and the Foxes controlled the rest of the game.
LEICESTER (4-2-3-1): Schmeichel 7; Castagne 7, Amartey 7, Soyuncu 7, Thomas 7; Soumare 7 (Dewsbury-Hall 62, 6), Ndidi 7; Lookman 7 (Albrighton 84), MADDISON 8 (Perez 63, 6), Barnes 7; Daka 8 (Iheanacho 85).