RODGERS AT FAULT FOR FOXES
Silva fires winner after Vestergaard is subbed
IF Brendan Rodgers has ambitions to one day succeed Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, he may need to be luckier with his substitutions.
There is no doubt Rodgers is one of the most talented coaches of his generation and his Leicester City side gave the champions another thorough examination yesterday, having already beaten them in the Community Shield in August.
But the points were settled following a change in personnel by the Foxes boss after an hour when he took off the game’s best player at that time, Jannik Vestergaard, to give Jonny Evans his first action of the season following a foot injury.
Within 30 seconds of Evans’ arrival, the visitors made a great chance amid mis-communication in the home defence. Thirty seconds after that, the winner was scored.
Jack Grealish picked out Joao Cancelo and his shot cannoned off Caglar Soyuncu into the path of Bernardo Silva, who shot home.
In fairness, Vestergaard himself hadn’t featured since the opening day because of knee problems. But the Danish international was heroic in his first Premier League start since his move from Southampton, making three huge blocks.
Hindsight is wonderful, but with Leicester defending so well at that stage, surely the centre-half could have lasted another five minutes.
‘I was delighted with Jannik. He has great presence and calmness on the ball. The plan was to get him to 60 minutes and when he began to tire, bring in Jonny,’ explained Rodgers.
Despite only one goal being scored, it was a cracking game between two of the Premier League’s most pleasing teams. Manchester City had lost their previous four games away from the Etihad, three without scoring, so there would have been relief when the excellent Silva snaffled his opportunity from close range.
In truth, they could have won by more, with Kasper Schmeichel making seven good stops against the club where he began his career.
But Leicester, kings of the counter-attack, would argue they could have had a point. Harvey Barnes hit the crossbar with a header while Jamie Vardy, who has scored more goals against Guardiola than any other player, had a goal ruled out for a fractional offside.
‘It was an excellent performance,’ enthused Guardiola about his side. ‘Leicester is not the easiest fixture after an international break and you always doubt, but the mentality was brilliant. We played well, created a lot of chances and conceded few. The last three games have been incredibly good.’
Of his match-winner, who was rumoured to be leaving the club in the summer, Guardiola added: ‘Bernardo’s connection with Jack and Joao was brilliant. We’re happy he is still here.’
Guardiola was able to pick Ederson and Gabriel Jesus after a late climbdown by the Brazilian FA. So he picked an unchanged team and saw them begin well. In the first five minutes, they forced three corners; Jesus was denied by Schmeichel and from the rebound Vestergaard managed to twice block from Silva.
Leicester’s counter also threatened to pay dividends. Vardy crossed towards Barnes, who was beaten by a brilliant interception from Kyle Walker and careered into Ederson. After treatment, the keeper continued.
The champions bossed the rest of the first half with Silva seizing on a mistake by Youri Tielemans to force Schmeichel into a save. Grealish then attempted a Cantona-style chip that went just the wrong side of the post.
Ferran Torres turned and shot at Schmeichel and was then denied by a last-ditch block by Vestergaard.
The hosts were more positive after the break. Vardy’s cross saw Barnes beat Ederson with a header only for the ball to hit the top of the bar and bounce to safety. And when Vardy latched on to Wilfred Ndidi’s pass and rounded Ederson to score, his knee was ruled to have been offside.
Vestergaard was given a standing ovation as he left the field but had barely sat down before his team conceded. Guardiola then sent on Raheem Sterling to try and press home the advantage, but it was Leicester who nearly levelled it.
Debutant Ademola Lookman combined with Kelechi Iheanacho, racing clear only to be confronted by Ederson rushing out to meet him. He duly shot the ball into the Brazilian’s chest.
‘I felt we deserved something from the game,’ said Rodgers. ‘We were right in there with a world-class side but they got that little bit of luck with the goal.’