A late penalty from Jamie Vardy ensured that honours were shared at Dean Court on Saturday, with 1-1 the final scoreline.
The match was a high-tempo affair, with end-to-end football for much of the opening half, typifying the way each side like to play. Despite the intensity and work-rate of both teams, there was a collective lack of polish in the final third, making for some frustrating football at times.
It took a moment of brilliance from Callum Wilson upon 24 minutes to break the deadlock, scoring with an overhead kick after Charlie Daniels’ cross and Max Gradel’s deflected header.
Despite being outplayed for much of the first half, the Foxes were much better in the second half, snatching a point late in the contest after Vardy was brought down by Steve Cook in the box, before converting himself despite Artur Boruc getting both hands to the spot kick.
The result sees Leicester maintain their unbeaten run in the league, while Bournemouth move to 11th position.
4-4-2 is best for the Foxes
This match marked the first occasion that Claudio Ranieri has decided to experiment with his starting XI in the league, with N’Golo Kante making his first Premier League appearance at the expense of the impressive Shinji Okazaki. This also meant that Leicester played a formation akin to a 4-3-3, with Kante slotting in alongside Danny Drinkwater and Andy King in midfield.
It seems as though the need to tinker had finally got the better of Ranieri, stating before the match to Leicester’s official Twitter page: “We change because I want to see how we play with three central midfielders. All of the players are in good condition”.
Despite a bright opening for the visitors, Bournemouth were on top for most of the first half, posing little attacking threat. It made the change in personnel even more puzzling considering how effective the Foxes have been to date.
The second half saw Leicester revert to back to a 4-4-2, with the injured Riyad Mahrez making way for Okazaki, with Kante moving to the wing (and did so to great effect). This change also meant that Leicester were much more dangerous going forward, utilising their pace to ultimately salvage a draw.
Dean Court will be a difficult place to travel for the rest of the league
The Vitality Stadium, with a modest capacity of 11,700, will be far from a guaranteed three points for the more-fancied teams that will visit throughout the year.
The atmosphere, despite the size of the crowd was fantastic, with the Cherries faithful passionately singing and cheering their side on throughout the contest.
On the field, however, Eddie Howe’s men will seemingly stick to the philosophy that saw them promoted in the first place, which is to play attractive, attacking football.
While the results so far will show that Bournemouth are yet to win at home in their first two attempts, they would consider themselves unlucky not to have secured all three against the Foxes. While they lacked the quality at times to match their endeavour and confidence, there is enough of a threat to be posed once things come together.
Last week was no fluke for Callum Wilson
Last week saw Wilson score a hat-trick against West Ham, including the first ever goal in the top flight for the Cherries. This week, he achieved another first, being the first to score in a home fixture in the Premier League, doing so in emphatic style.
The 23-year-old Englishman was prolific in the Championship for Bournemouth last season, scoring 20 goals in his first season with the club. After two promising, yet goalless games to begin his Premier League career, Wilson now has four goals in his last two games. He has seemingly adjusted to the pace of the league already.
The question for many who have succeeded at the lower levels in English Football is whether or not they can make the step-up in quality. With the recent successes of strikers such as Rickie Lambert and Charlie Austin in particular, there is encouragement that Wilson will be able to be more than effective this season. He is still at a young age, which suggests that he will only get better the more he plays.
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