A pair of Heurelho Gomes blunders gifted Leicester City another home victory in the Premier League on Sunday Morning.
In what was initially an attritional contest, N’Golo Kante opened the scoring with a tame effort on the Hornets’ goal. Gomes, however, failed to handle the trickling toe poke and could only watch the ball roll into the net.
13 minutes later, the gloveman was perhaps lucky not to have had his day ended early, after crashing into Jamie Vardy as the striker nicked the ball past the Brazilian. A penalty was awarded and Gomes was shown a yellow card.
Vardy smashed home the spot-kick – but not before Riyad Mahrez looked to become the villain among the home faithful, attempting to take it himself. Being reminded of the significance of the moment, Mahrez obliged the fans and gave Vardy the opportunity to net in his ninth consecutive game – now only one game away from Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record of 10.
Seemingly out of the contest, Watford rallied and pulled a goal back on 75 minutes through a penalty of their own from captain Troy Deeney. Kante fouled Juan Carlos Paredes inside the area, unaware of the Ecuadorian’s close presence as he lingered on a ball he should have cleared without fuss.
In the end, Leicester hung on and were deserved winners. They now join both Manchester City and Arsenal on 25 points, while Watford sit in 11th place, by no means in trouble after 11 games.
Formations
As predicted by many after last week, Claudio Ranieri opted for a 4-4-1-1, with Christian Fuchs selected after a slight injury doubt. Mahrez was played centrally, sitting in behind Vardy as the loan striker. Jeffrey Schlupp was once again deployed on the wing, while Marc Albrighton occupied the other flank.
Watford opted for a similar formation, with a 4-4-2 which at times looked like a 4-4-1-1 as Deeney dropped deeper to link-up with the midfield. Odion Ighalo took his place in the starting lineup despite minor injury concerns throughout the week, while Etienne Capoue and Ben Watson looked to provide solidity in midfield.
Vardy kept quiet for much of the match
While Vardy ultimately managed to add to his much-publicised goal run, it was one of his most quiet showings of the season.
In the first-half particularly, the Englishman often looked isolated. He was restricted to one shot from open play, a speculative effort from distance which posed little threat to Gomes.
After the restart Vardy did score the penalty, but only had one other shot – a blocked effort. Indicative of the threat that he can pose at any given time, it was his speed and desire to have an impact, however, that brought about the penalty and effectively sealed the game.
Ighalo just as quiet.
These two teams boasted the three top scorers to date on the pitch and much of the pregame hype surrounded the battle between both sets of attackers, with Ighalo being the big threat for the Hornets, having seven goals to his name already.
Needed to feed-off scraps for the entirety of his time against the Foxes, it was the Nigerian who came closest to breaking the deadlock, hitting the post from a neat piece of control before firing a snapshot at the goal. That was the only shot that the Watford hitman had throughout the contest, however, as he was well marshalled by an organised opposition defence.
As a result, Ighalo often had to drop much deeper than desirable in order to be involved in the game.
Both teams intent on playing the long ball.
Much of the build-up play involved both teams playing long and direct, hoping to feed their strikers at the earliest chance. The long ball, however, was generally executed poorly, contributing to the limited chances both Ighalo and Vardy were given.
Leicester completed 70% of their passes compared to Watford’s 75%, but when looking at the passes attempted, many were failed long balls.
Of note, many long attempts were often straight as opposed to diagonal balls, a sign of the teams both being bereft of ideas when going forward.
Leicester’s central defenders were dominant
Robert Huth and Wes Morgan are both hulking figures in the Foxes central-defence. With Watford intent on playing long and direct, it suited the Foxes defensive duo perfectly.
Between the two, they won 71% of aerial duels, made eight interceptions and 10 clearances, often picking off anything that came their way. Although they were not rewarded with a clean sheet (due to Kante giving away the penalty), it was a very complete performance.
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Conclusion
The game, for much of the contest, was one that produced very few chances. Gomes will have a few sleepless nights as memories of his torrid end at Tottenham will no doubt resurface.
In the end, the game still produced three goals despite the few chances created. With Vardy’s penalty, there will be an added incentive for the neutral to watch next week, as he chases a place in history.
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