22 December 2024
Leicester 0 Wolves 3
Two teams met at the King Power Stadium who had pulled the trigger on the managers they started this campaign with. Van Nistelrooy had been in the role a little longer as Vitor Pereira took charge of his first game. This was already the ultimate six-pointer with both sides very much involved in a relegation scrap this season.
It was The Foxes who almost opened the scoring as the ball was threaded in behind the visitors’ defence. Vardy used his pace to run onto it, but Jose Sa raced out of his penalty area. The Leicester striker tried to poke the ball past him but it struck the keeper on the chest to prevent it going past him. He did well to keep his arms well-away or he could have been having an early bath.
Semedo then clipped a hopeful ball forward, which bounced into the box. Guedes turned and hit it on the volley, to find the far corner and give Wolves the lead. It was their first attack of the game and seemed to come from nothing, not that Pereira will be complaining at all. The away end erupted as it nestled in the back of the net.
There are a lot of teams in the league this season that look incapable of defending. The Foxes fall into this category. With the quality so high in the top-flight, you just cannot afford to give away goals so easily. Leicester tried to create something themselves when Mavididi cut inside from the left and tried to bend one in the far corner. Jose Sa watched it all the way and made a comfortable save.
Doherty drilled another ‘hit and hope’ ball forward which Justin opted to leave. Rodrigo Gomes got on the end of it and chested it down before trying to divert it towards goal. Ward had come to meet him but made the most bizarre attempt to save with his feet, as the ball trickled over the line to double the visitors’ lead.
Having watched the replay multiple times, the goal may have been scored just from the chested control of the Wolves’ player. Either way, they had extended their lead at the King Power. So much this season The Foxes have been kept in games by Hermansen, it was evident to see as they missed the keeper massively as he spends some time out with an injury.
Leicester almost gave their own fans something to celebrate as Mavididi found Vardy in the box. He shifted it onto his left foot before looking to slot it into the corner of the goal. It had Jose Sa beaten, but not the defender stood on the line as he hacked it clear. This was as close as The Foxes had come to scoring all afternoon.
The visitors then went down the other end and Guedes played it into the path of Cunha. He struck his shot from a tight angle and his effort clipped the inside of the far post and went in. It summed up a perfect first-half for the new manager as they headed in at the interval with a healthy lead. Leicester came off the pitch to boos from their own fans.
A lot of the home fans opted to go and do some last-minute Christmas shopping when the goal went in. It is sad to see so many empty seats in a football ground. Soon after the restart, Vardy tried to make something happen as he took the ball around the keeper. He looked to shoot for goal but the angle was all too tight and all he could find was the side-netting.
Wolves were not done with their attacking for the day as Cunha swung in an inch-perfect cross into the box. Bueno met it with a header that narrowly fell the wrong side of the post. There was no way Ward was getting anywhere near it had it been a few inches the other way. This had been somewhat of a horror show for the home fans to endure.
The biggest concern for The Foxes’ fans, is how they got outclassed by a side in the bottom three. Pereira’s side should have added a fourth when Gomes had a completely free header four yards out. He got it all wrong as he barely got a connection on the cross. It would have been the icing on the cake for the new manager.
Often when a new manager comes in, it causes a honeymoon effect that usually brings points. This could be just what Wolves need to move away from the bottom three. Vitor Pereira was finally fulfilling a person dream, managing in the Premier League. Even in his wildest dreams he probably did not see that game go like this.
Van Nistelrooy seems quite realistic in his view on things at the King Power. He came into this job knowing it was a mammoth task to keep this side up. Since he took charge, his side have faced 83 shots in just four games. That cannot continue and the Dutchman needs to do something to make this defence solid once again.
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