Maddison master class fires Foxes
Leicester 4 Watford 1
THE FA Cup holders kicked off the defence of their trophy in style, despite having just one senior defender on the pitch.
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers was hit by a string of problems that left him without 17 players.
But the Foxes still carried enough firepower to blast their way past the sorry Hornets.
Without injured striker Jamie
Vardy, it was left to Ademola Lookman to shoulder the burden up front.
And with the silky skills of James Maddison (above) to the fore, the hosts coasted home.
Rodgers said: “I was absolutely thrilled with the performance – we only had eight senior players fit and they all played, and we had 10 academy products in our squad.
“To see them come in and perform against another Premier League club, with that understanding of the game, it was great for them.”
However, Watford were their own worst enemies.
They conceded an early penalty which Youri Tielemans scored.
Soon they were two down when Maddison dinked the ball over an onrushing Daniel Bachmann.
Watford hit back inside 60 seconds through Joao Pedro but within nine minutes of the restart Harvey Barnes made it 3-1 and Marc Albrighton hit the fourth late on.