Match Report: Swansea City 1 - 3 Leicester City

Recap

Leicester City came from behind to beat a strong Swansea City side by a score of 3-1 on Saturday afternoon at the (I hate saying this) Swansea.Com Stadium. Matt Grimes volley opened the scoring for the hosts, only for Jannik Vestergaard to equalise for the Foxes just before the break. Strikes from Abdul Fatawu and substitute Kelechi Iheanacho earned Leicester the full three points and their 11th win in 12 matches.

I may sound like a broken record here, but this was another of those matches where the Foxes were close to clicking but struggled to put it all together. Leicester bossed possession and carved out almost-chances time and again. Once again, you got the sense we were this close to blowing the match open.

As Jack noted, this was a match where the gap in talent was enough to see us through. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was simply too much. Our press was as effective as it’s been all season, and it certainly helps to have a lot of players who could or should be playing at a higher level.

The win gives the Foxes 33 points from 12 matches which seems like a lot. We remain top of the table and a comfortable 11 points ahead of Leeds in the race for automatic promotion. We host 6th-placed Sunderland on Wednesday before travelling to London to face Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road in one week.

Lineups

Leicester City: Mads Hermansen, Ricardo Pereira, Wout Faes, Jannik Vestergaard, James Justin, Wilfred Ndidi, Harry Winks, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Abdul Fatawu, Stephy Mavididi, Jamie Vardy (C)

Swansea City: Carl Rushworth, Josh Key, Harry Darling, Matt Grimes (C), Jerry Yates, Jamal Lowe, Jamie Peterson, Josh Tymon, Charlie Patino, Liam Cullen, Bashir Humphreys

Key Moments and Notes

5’- All roads lead to Rome, and all attacks run through Ndidi. A slick break finds Fatawu on the right. He pulls it back for Wilf, who back heels it first time into the path of Winks. The former Spurs man skies his effort over, but it was a move that really deserved a goal.

19’- GOAL! The Swans’ first attack of the day results in a corner. Faes gets his head to it but just sort of lofts it to the edge of the box. Grimes lines up the volley, catches it sweetly, and finds the back of the net. There was nothing Hermansen could do about it.

22’- Close! Fatawu carries the ball half the length of the pitch and finds Ndidi alone in the area on the right. He is of two minds when it comes to shooting or passing and winds up splitting the difference. The Nigerian really hasn’t had a successful touch since I called him out earlier.

33’- Is this going to be One Of Those Days? The Foxes have had chance after chance since the Swansea goal but nothing is coming off. Dewsbury-Hall’s header at the keeper is the only shot on goal so far, but there have been a handful of balls go between the keeper and the attacks and out for a goal kick.

43’- GOAL! KDH wins a corner and takes it quickly. Mavididi, who has been excellent, stands up a cross for Ndidi. His glancing effort is blocked by Cullen, but it deflects to Vestergaard. The Dane bundles home from close range and the Foxes are deservedly level.

45+1’- Close! Swansea muster a late flurry. A bobbling ball stands up beautifully for Cullen, who lashes a half volley that Hermansen just turns onto the crossbar.

HALF-TIME: Swansea City 1 - 1 Leicester City

47’- Not much going on, so let’s take a moment to talk about the away kits. I love ‘em. They’re the black shirts with the turquoise chevrons and they are as smart as anything we’ve worn. They may not help us play better, but we look better, and that’s got to be half the battle, right?

59’- The match is being played in the Swansea half but chances have been at a premium. Mavididi drags one less than a foot wide but it never really looked or felt like it might go in.

64’- GOAL! Fatawu gets his first. Dewsbury-Hall pulls the ball back from deep in the area. Ndidi dummies it and the Ghana man finishes with aplomb from the penalty spot. The keeper gets a hand to it, but there’s no keeping that one out. That proves Fatawu’s last contribution as Yunus Akgun comes on for him. The Galatasaray man scored an absolute screamer for Turkey midweek.

Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images

66’- (should have been) Close! Winks wins the ball in midfield and sets Ndidi off on his way. The former Genk man slips a perfect pass to Vardy, who is alone against the keeper. He tries to go around Rushworth and ends up just getting pushed wide.

69’- It should be three (or four)! KDH finds Ndidi on the ride side of the area. His first touch is perfect, but the second is a shot that he screws high and wide. I never thought I’d be seeing that, but you’d expect Wilf to score that one.

79’- Close! The Foxes break through (stop me if you’ve heard this one before) Dewsbury-Hall. He slides it wide to Vardy who tries to square it for Yunus. It looks like it’ll be a tap-in for the Turkey man, but Key does great work to get back and get a challenge in.

80’- Close! At the other end, Ricardo gives the ball away just outside the area. Lowe’s shot is on target, but Hermansen saves at full stretch.

84’- Kelechi Iheanacho comes on for Vardy who has put in a shift. The Foxes need to calm things down now.

87’- GOAL! Yunus does brilliantly to get the ball out of defence with a slick pass to Ricardo. The Portuguese fullback plays a perfect ball through to Iheanacho. The Swansea defence get back to make a challenge, but this time Key tips the ball onto the Seniorman’s left boot. He slips it past the keeper and that’s the game.

Photo by Stephen White - CameraSport via Getty Images

90+4’- Substitutes Conor Coady and Hamza Choudhury finally come on after waiting for five minutes while the Foxes knocked the ball around. They were supposed to come on for Ricardo and Justin, but Akgun felt something in his leg and had to come off, so Justin stayed on the pitch. For those of you keeping score, Justin moves to right back and Faes is the fullback on the left side.