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The first goalless draw of this extraordinary season loomed as an unwanted guest when Ross Barkley seized his moment. Picking up the ball midway into the Leicester half in injury time, the Chelsea midfielder on loan from Aston Villa stepped forward and fired a drive from more than 20 yards into the bottom corner. And with that, Villa had won his first four games of a campaign for the first time since 1930 and moved up to second place in the Premier League.
In what must have been one of the easier team picks of his coaching career, Dean Smith opted to start with the same team that inflicted that vibrant and outrageous 7-2 loss to Liverpool two weeks ago. Brendan Rodgers didn’t have that luxury: The Leicester coach might have believed the changes were necessary after losing 3-0 at home to West Ham in his last outing, but he wouldn’t have voluntarily given up on Jamie Vardy’s services. However, calf problems deprived the hosts of their top scorer, which was good news for Villa, whom Vardy has a habit of chasing, having scored four goals in two league games against them this season. pass.
Vardy was not Leicester’s only absence, with center-back Caglar Soyuncu also ruled out, along with Wilfred Ndidi and Ricardo Pereira. Rather than turn to veteran Wes Morgan, Rodgers decided it was the right time to make his Premier League debut for Wesley Fofana, the 19-year-old center-back bought from Saint-Étienne this month for more than £ 30 million. Even an exceptional teenager could have gulped when asked to start his career in England by submitting an attack that had just shot seven goals at the champions. It would be the job of the seasoned Jonny Evans to help ensure Villa didn’t make this too big of a culture shock for the newcomer.
Fofana’s initiation started in earnest in the third minute when she had to lift herself off the ground after catching a bite from Ollie Watkins’ right arm in an aerial challenge. But other than that, the defender looked comfortable as Leicester allowed Villa to have the ball in innocuous areas before attempting to pinch it and jump forward.
Counterattacking without Vardy’s speed is even trickier, but Leicester showed cunning. Kelechi Iheanacho served as a deft front pivot around which Dennis Praet and Harvey Barnes zigzagged dangerously.
Emi Martinez was the first goalkeeper to be forced into meaningful action, though Ayoze Perez’s smooth shot from 25 yards was never likely to bother him much. But Martinez certainly got upset in the 21st minute when Leicester ran forward at the break. Iheanacho made a smart pass to Timothy Castagne, whose powerful shot from close range was parried by Martinez. The goalkeeper had to intervene again two minutes later to stop a long-distance shot from Iheanacho.
The visitors did not threaten until the 26th minute, when John McGinn ran to a Jack Grealish pass and launched a deflected shot from 10 yards under pressure from James Justin. Villa’s attackers rarely had time or space with the ball.
Matty Cash rescued Villa with a good tackle into the Castagne area just after half an hour, but he embarrassed himself and earned a warning, a few minutes later dragging Barnes in despair after misjudging a bouncing ball in the wing.
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Villa improved after the break and began to stretch Leicester. Grealish’s patience approached breaking point as he was fouled repeatedly but, as always, he never stopped trying to incite a breakthrough with his skill. A well-delivered corner kick in the 55th minute invited Ezri Konsa to open the scoring, but the defender’s header shot out.
Leicester’s visits to the opposing territory were increasingly rare, but Youri Tielemans nearly made an hour count with a shot from 20 yards. Martinez saved him despite a troublesome detour from Tyrone Mings. Two minutes later, Tielemans excelled at the other end, rushing back to defuse a promising counterattack from Villa. Still, Leicester needed more inspiration. Rodgers turned to James Maddison.
But his wits stayed dormant, like almost everyone else. In search of something different, Rodgers lunged at Islam Slimani, who had been on loan at Newcastle, Fenerbahce and Monaco since his last appearance for Leicester more than two years ago. I was hoping to cause a sensation. But not the one provided by Barkley.
