KING POWER STADIUM — Whenever James Maddison gets into the position, you know what he’s about to try and do. The question is not whether or not Maddison will attempt a shot, but how many times he will feign to shoot before he eventually does. Wiggle, feint; wiggle, feint; wiggle, shoot. The defender must move with him, dancing the dance, but never over-commit and never presume that the shot won’t come this time.
Recently, Maddison has been trying it more often than normal, perhaps even slightly more often than Brendan Rodgers would like. His last goal at the King Power stadium had come in February.
A player of Maddison’s quality does not need to score to make a difference, but the goal drought had mirrored a slump in form that had taken Maddison from the fringes of the England starting XI to the fringes of Leicester’s.
Maddison succeeded at the third attempt and with the second wiggle. His first shot was curled over the bar, the second into the thigh of a Legia defender.
The third was unusual firstly in that it was with his left foot, from the opposite side of the penalty area, and also because it went in. The King Power roared. One gentleman in front of the press box shouted “Go on Maddeh” in the perfect earthy East Midlands accent.
This was a night for Leicester to gain confidence. Over the last few weeks, Rodgers has been fighting fires that some supporters believe he started.
Ayoze Perez has spoken about a lack of mentality, the defenders have offered thoughts on instability and Leicester’s home support have booed their team and manager from the pitch.
There is no instant solution, no cutting the queue. Leicester cannot regain their radiant glow with one win; Maddison cannot regain his with one goal. But there was a surge after each of their three first-half goals that relayed a sense of relief – “See, we are good enough”. After Maddison celebrated the second, he looked upwards as if to remind the Big Man “You owed me this one”.
Nor was this anything close to perfection. Leicester suffered their wobbles. They were sticky and patchy throughout the second half. Wilfred Ndidi raised his hands ludicrously high so that any contact with the ball, accidental and unfortunate, gave Legia Warsaw a lifeline. Ndidi himself made amends from a Leicester corner. It’s pleasing to learn that Rodgers’ side can score from set pieces as well as concede.
Mostly, this was a rollicking evening of football. The ideal ingredients were all present: cold night, the type of which provokes self-congratulation for picking out that extra layer; an uber-competitive fixture in a group from which all teams could finish top or bottom at the start of play; end-to-end football and enough needle to provoke screams of derision from supporters crying foul at perceived misjudgement; goals aplenty.
It’s a shame that a raucous away support became a violent one during the second-half when fans attacked police in a bid to cross the barriers to the home supporters. For a while, it was a deeply ugly scene. Legia should expect significant sanctions.
Leicester’s Europa League dream lives on for now. They will travel to Naples facing the daunting task of avoiding defeat to stay in the competition and could still finish in any of the top three places in the group.
Rodgers may stress that Watford on Sunday was more important than Legia on Thursday. But even if you cannot magically make everything better, avoiding making them worse counts for more than nothing. James Maddison will hope that this is the start of something.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3xmeO1n
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