18 January 2025
Leicester 0 Fulham 2
Leicester welcomed Fulham to the King Power Stadium, desperate for victory. Their plight to remain a Premier League club was becoming more difficult week by week. After a very short honeymoon period under the Dutchman, points were becoming hard to come by. He would have seen the visit of Marco Silva’s side as a winnable game for The Foxes.
The Foxes started the match well and forced an early corner. As Kristiansen whipped it into the danger area, The Cottagers really struggled to clear their lines. Weak headers kept the ball alive in the penalty area, before the Leicester defender lifted it to the back post. Ayew went to ground but still managed to get a shot away, which drew an instinctive save from Leno.
Ayew was appealing for a penalty, he felt that he was fouled by Jimenez before getting a shot away. You could see where he was coming from as there seemed to be contact. Nobody knows the rationale behind officiating in the top-flight now. All we can assume is they waved away the need to intervene as the Leicester player had still managed to get his effort in.
Moments later The Foxes came close again. On this occasion Vardy had stretched the visitors’ defence before looking to cross into the box. Castagne tried to cut it out but just sent the effort towards the bottom corner of the goal. Fortunately for the visitors, Leno managed to react well to turn it around the post for a corner.
Kristiansen was looking the most dangerous player for the hosts. The left-back went on a mazy run, heading towards goal. It all seemed to open up for him and a goal looked certain. Sadly the Dane could not find the far corner and sent his effort narrowly wide of the target. The Foxes’ wastefulness was costing them dearly of late.
The Cottagers started working their way back into the game. Jimenez was getting some joy pulling out wide. He crossed into the box but there was no one there to capitalise. As the visitors looked to recycle it, they were struggling to find space as The Foxes had everyone behind the ball. Wilson fed it into the path of Bassey, who fired off a shot narrowly missing the far post.
When Leicester attacks broke down, they looked more at risk defensively. Fulham were getting through the transitions quickly and finding some space in the final third. Iwobi looked set to score from one such opportunity but only a sliding challenge from Faes was to deny him. Robinson shot from the rebound but his effort narrowly missed the target.
After the interval, Jimenez swung in a deep cross towards the back post. Lukic did well to head it across goal, where a diving header from Smith Rowe gave Marco Silva’s side the lead. It was no more than they had been threatening, once again The Foxes’ defence was all over the shop. Premier League safety is always going to be a struggle as a result of this.
It was the perfect start to the second-half for The Cottagers. Leicester needed to find a way back into this game sooner rather than later. Ayew tried to bundle his way into the box but as the ball broke to him from Vardy’s knockdown, he sliced his effort over the crossbar. This pretty much summed up the game for the hosts and their season in general.
Fulham continued to look for goals as the influential Wilson dinked a neat pass into the path of Traore. His first-time volley was sublime and the ball nestled in the far corner with Stolarczyk having no chance of keeping it out. This was a far cry from the winger we saw at The Etihad, who should have had at least a hat-trick in that match.
The home fans started to boo but you have to wonder what they are expecting. There is not enough quality in this Leicester side to be expecting to win games at this level. It will be interesting to see how the owners react now that the transfer window is open, some serious money would need to be spent if they are to get out of their current predicament.
Marco Silva’s side should have put the icing on the cake when Lukic put in an inviting cross into the back post. As a defender missed it, Jimenez seemed to be surprised that the chance had presented itself to him. As a result, he sent his effort wide of the target. Fortunately for the Mexican, it was not an opportunity that was going to affect the outcome of this game.
Van Nistelrooy was very candid and honest after the game. He admitted that his side did not deserve to win the match and were poor in all aspects. The Dutchman said that this was his most painful result since his time as Foxes’ manager as they were so off the pace. It is hard to see how Leicester stay up this season, that is the conundrum now for their manager.
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