Wardrobe Malfunction

Leicester 1 - 1 Everton

Gaz rolled up at around 8 am and on we routed up the M56, M6, A500 and then M1, reaching Leicester at around 10:15 am. We had what we thought was the bright idea of spinning the car around and parking on Narborough Road, about a 20-minute walk from the stadium, so we could get away quickly after the game.

I had a real clothing attire dilemma. I knew the weather was likely to be very warm in the day, but was also conscious that some heavy rain was due at some point around 3pm. I also had to factor in that in the evening I was heading straight to a friend’s 40^th birthday party, and so required some sort of reasonably smart wear. So I went for the jeans, shirt and hoodie, thinking that would suffice to keep me not too uncomfortably warm in the beautiful daytime sun, and offering me some sort of protection for any showers later. But when getting out of the car it felt so warm, I decided to gamble on leaving my hoodie in the car.

I got it all wrong. Walking around Leicester city centre in the daytime, I was too uncomfortably warm in my jeans, and then as we got pounded with rain walking out of the King Power stadium I was well too soggy and wet in my jeans, and didn’t have my hoodie to stay dry. And as it turned out, nobody had really bothered dressing up much at the evening bash anyway, so I could have easily rocked up in shorts and tee-shirt.

Anyway, having parked up we took a fairly pleasant walk into the city centre, and met Chris, Mike and Stewart at a pub called The Globe for food and drink refreshments, before moving on to a cool craft ale bar called Tonne, and then to the Rutland & Derby Arms which was well-populated with match-going fans.

We moved onto the stadium and were at our seats well in time for kick off. It’s a pretty decent stadium the King Power in my opinion. Now 22 years old, it serves them very well and has retained decent facilities.

Everton attacked towards the far end of the stadium in the first half, and, well backed as ever by our loyal followers, the players did a good job of taking the game to Leicester City, while keeping a good shape and remaining solid and difficult for Leicester City to break throw us. Particularly as it felt a bit thrown together due to player unavailability, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Orel Mangala did a good job of disrupting the hosts and moving us forward.

And it wasn’t long before we were ahead. The free kick, put in by I think Dwight McNeil, was cleared, though retained by Orel. He played the ball into Iliman Ndiaye, who worked it very well with Ashley Young. It was a great pass back to him by Ashley, and Iliman took on the panicked defenders and finished brilliantly into the corner. It was a great goal, and sparked some brilliant celebrations in the away end.

We remained on top throughout the half. Leicester City couldn’t quite get to grips with us with the shape remaining very good, and Michael Keane particularly strong defensively. It was probably about 30 minutes into the game when the heavens really opened, every flash lightning and subsequent thunder drawing a gasp from the crowd, and both sets of players did well to keep the game quality up in the tough conditions. We got to the break relatively hassle free, and had to be satisfied with our first half efforts. And should we have had an opportunity at the end of the half? Leicester City’s free kick into the penalty area was cleared upfield, and from what I could tell, Dwight was through on goal. Especially as Abdoulaye Doucoure had been down injured for about a minute of the allotted time, I thought there was no reason for Darren England to blow for half time at that point.

The second half seemed to take an eternity to start and it didn’t occur to us that it was delayed due to the adverse weather. When they finally got back out there, it was a much improved Leicester City who took the game to us. We had opportunities on the counter attack, mainly when Dominic Calvert-Lewin drove at goal having been put in by Dwight McNeil following great work by Iliman. Dominic’s effort was well saved by Mads Hermansen. And not long before he was substituted, Jesper Lindstrom had an opportunity though elected to square it rather than shoot, and the ball was cleared.

Pressure continued to grow and we stayed on the backfoot for some time. It became a bit unbearable to watch really. Changes were definitely needed and I felt swapping out Jesper Lindstrom for Jack Harrison was a good change as the Dane was flagging. The conditions made it heavy for the players and fresher legs were required.

It was a shame we gave up such a soft goal. Leicester City deserved the draw given the pressure they applied, but giving up the goal in that manner was a real shame. I don’t quite know what James Tarkowski was doing, and how that ball popped up the way it did. And Leicester City then got lucky with the bounce between Stephy Mavididi and Michael Keane, and even then, Dwight McNeil probably should have cleared it off the goal line.

This gave Leicester City added momentum, and though not ideal, I was grateful enough to see out the draw. It gets us off the mark, and somehow actually off the bottom. There’s a lot of strugglers down there, and a couple of wins can make a big difference, and more returning bodies will help that. That last 10 minutes were nerve-wracking to the extreme, so it’s a positive we showed good resilience to hold on.

We hoped most of the bad weather had passed, but that wasn’t the case as we got caught in quite the downpour walking back to the car. Gaz drove back incredibly well in awful driving conditions, and I was in relatively good time for the 40^th birthday party.

Keep the faith, Toffees.

Player ratings:

Jordan Pickford: Really didn’t have a huge amount to do, though I don’t think he’s quite on form. That moment in the first half was almost disastrous, and could he have commanded his box better for Leicester City’s goal? Anyway, we know he has great ability so not a huge concern, but I feel there’s a bit of room for improvement there. 6

Ashley Young: I thought Ashley did very well slotting in at left back and played a lovely pass to assist the goal. Not a popular opinion, but I think he may prove quite a valuable player this season. 7

Michael Keane: He had a really good game. A shame about the goal, though I felt James Tarkowski was far more culpable there. People can’t wait to get the knives out for Keane, so its only fair to give him credit when he’s done well. 7

James Tarkowski: I hope he can shake off this injury because it feels as though it is hampering him quite significantly. He did OK most of the game, but was really poor for Leicester City’s goal. 6

James Garner: He coped pretty well there at right back and it wouldn’t surprise me if he now gets a run of games there with the unavailability of Nathan Patterson and Seamus Coleman, plus the emergence of Orel Mangala in midfield. 6

Orel Mangala: I was really impressed with Orel. A few errors and he tired a bit towards the end but he is quite bright in that midfield and uses the ball well. I think he’d pair well with Idrissa Gueye. A good performance. 7

Abdoulaye Doucoure: Fair pay to Abdoulaye, he did well in there, certainly for an hour or so at which point he perhaps needed more help. Good to see he still has something to give in central midfield, given he has operated further forward in the last 18 months or so. 7

Iliman Ndiaye: He had a very good game and was a constant threat. As he tired towards the end he ran down a few blind alleys and lost possession a few times, and I felt his race was run and taking him off wasn’t a bad call. He’s our difference maker this season, no doubt about that. 8

Jesper Lindstrom: He’s looking a good player and is getting up to speed. Yet to score, but is looking a goal threat and you have to assume the goals will come. Had a good hour but needed to come off at the point I thought as it got tough in them conditions. 7

Dominic Calvert-Lewin: He worked very hard and lead the line very well. He won countless strong headers up against his centre back and brought others into play very well. A bit unlucky not to score, maybe he might have done better with that second half chance, but a colossal effort overall. My man of the match. 8

Substitutes:

Jack Harrison: You certainly can’t fault his effort, he worked hard for the team, but a lot of the things he did frustrated. 5

Tim Iroegbunam: He looked quite lost out there frankly. 5

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