Islam Slimani slays Porto again to snatch a 1-0 win for Leicester

Leicester capped off their Champions League home debut at the King Power with a win over FC Porto, making it six points from two Champions League Games and maintaining their place atop Group E.

The Foxes started the game off rather shakily, a failed offside trap leaving the pacey Andre Silva to chase. Kasper Schmeichel raced outside of his box, but not quickly enough as Silva’s angled effort from 25 yards sailed just wide of goal inside 5 minutes.

From there it started to get a little nippy, with both sides racking up fouls. The Foxes were clearly winning this physical battle and began to find their groove, particularly from long throw-ins, which Porto seemed rather inept to defending. But thanks to some last ditch marking, constant Robert Huth fouls inside the box, and a pinch of luck the score remained 0-0.

The visitors looked the most threatening on the counter, with some quick and precise passing tearing the Leicester defense apart in the 21^st minute. Fortunately that came to nothing and a mere minutes later the Foxes found themselves in front.

A quick cross-field ball out to the right from Marc Albrighton met Riyad Mahrez who curled a teasing cross in towards the far post, which was met by the head of Islam Slimani to give the home side the 1-0 lead in the 25^th minute.

Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

The early goal left the Foxes content to sit back and force Porto to attack, hoping to catch them out on the counter. The visitors nearly grabbed an equalizer through a Miguel Layún free-kick that sailed just wide of Schmeichel’s goal.

Leicester carried all the momentum into the half as their opponents struggled to create much, having a grand total of zero shots on target.

The scrappy play continued into the second half and Leicester continued to look fairly comfortable, up until the last fifteen minutes that is. The Foxes suddenly found themselves giving up way too much possession and nearly cracking under pressure on multiple occasions. Porto’s best chance came through a Jesús Corona volley that smashed against the post in the 84^th minute. Despite this scare, Leicester managed to cling on for dear life and grab the 3 points.

It wasn’t the prettiest of performances, but a wins a win. Slimani put in one hell of a shift and seems to be connecting extremely well with Albrighton to form a devastating partnership down the left-hand side. That hard work was definitely needed as Jamie Vardy had an off day by his standards.

Two wins from two keeps the Foxes in the driver’s seat of Group E as they look to continue their first ever Champions League run.