Match Report: Norwich City 0 - 2 Leicester City

Recap

Leicester City came away from a scrap at Carrow Road with a 2-0 win over Norwich City. Kelechi Iheanacho scored a penalty at the end of the first half and Kasey McAteer netted late in the second period to give the Foxes the full three points.

This match felt very even for long periods of time and the Canaries will feel they deserved at least a point from it. Once again, it was keeping our nerve during a few key moments more than overall dominance that saw us through.

Don’t underestimate the importance of our first clean sheet in the league. Faes, Vestergaard, Doyle, and Hermansen all did yeoman work to keep a strong Norwich side at bay. Even with Conor Coady healthy, it’s hard to see how he gets back into the side right now.

Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images

The victory gives the Foxes 18 points from 7 matches. That lifts us to second on the table, a point behind Preston North End for the top spot. We host Bristol City on Saturday. It promises to be an emotional match as the Robins are helmed by one Nigel Pearson and feature both Andy King and Matty James in their squad. After that, it’s a return to League Cup action as we travel to Merseyside to face Liverpool at Anfield.

Lineups

Leicester City: Mad Hermansen, Hamza Choudhury (C), Wout Faes, Jannik Vestergaard, Callum Doyle, Harry Winks, Cesare Casadei, Yunus Akgun, Kasey McAteer, Stephy Mavididi, Kelechi Iheanacho

Norwich City: Angus Gunn, Ben Gibson, Shane Duffy, Dimitris Giannoulis, Jack Stacey, Liam Gibbs, Kenny McLean, Gabriel Sara, Ashley Barnes, Jon Rowe, Christian Fassnact

---

Key Moments and Notes

1’ - Kasey Keller is doing commentary for my feed. This is going to be fun.

14’ - It’s been really tight so far. Both teams are pressing like mad and making it difficult to play out of the back. This Norwich side looks up for it. They’re playing a bank of two and a bank of four deep in the Leicester half, trying to force the ball wide and they’re doing a good job of it.

28’ - Yunus is brought down chasing a ball over the top. Nothing is given and the former Galatasaray man voices his disagreement. He has a point: The defender had a handful of Yunus’ shirt.

41’ - Yunus finally wins a foul! Ben Gibson sees yellow for bringing him down by his shirt (again) and this time it’s a yellow. Both of the Norwich City centre half are on a yellow now. Ashley Barnes also goes into the book for dissent, which is to be expected as he’s Ashley Barnes.

45’ - GOAL! Sloppy play in midfield sees the ball fall to Mavididi. He turns on the jets and heads directly towards goal. He cuts across Fassnact and the defender goes through him. Iheanacho takes it and blasts down the middle. Gunn gets a hand to it, but he can’t keep it out.

Photo by Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty Images

45’+2 - It should be two for the Foxes. Another turnover allows Mavididi to run into the area again. He tries to pass it into the far corner and gets it wrong. If he’d spotted Yunus’ run, the Turkey man would have had a tap-in.

HALF TIME: Norwich City 0 - 1 Leicester City

46’ - Manager Enzo Maresca keeps the faith with his starting XI to no one’s surprise.

56’ - Norwich whip in a low cross at pace. It comes of Vestergaard’s knee and catches Choudhury in a very unfortunate place. That is going to hurt for a while.

Why not both? Also, the Curse of Jack lives on. Ouch.

58’ - Maresca elects to swap both of his #8s, withdrawing Casadei and Yunus for Wilfred Ndidi and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Depth is a wonderful thing.

60’ - Interestingly, it’s Wilf on the left and KDH on the right side. Ndidi’s first involvement is to get to the touchline and pull it back for Iheanacho. The Seniorman seems surprised to see the ball roll directly to his left boot, and he fails to get the shot off.

62’ - Faes gives the referee a decision to make, putting a shoulder into Giannoulis in the area. The fullback goes down in a heap and the crowd scream for a penalty. It would have been soft, but repeat after me: “You’ve seen them given.”

68’ - Jamie Vardy comes on Iheanacho. KDH goes just over with a header from a Mavididi cross.

72’ - BRILLIANT SAVE! Substitute Onel Hernandez whips in a brilliant cross and Shane Duffy meets it at pace. Hermansen’s reactions save the day, pushing it away and then getting to his feet quickly to save the second effort.

Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images

76’ - It should be level. Hermansen plays the ball directly to Kenny McLean in midfield. His first-time effort beats the keeper but comes back off the bar. Keller says that it should have gone in as a punishment for such lax play, and it’s hard to argue.

78’ - Two more Leicester City substitutions as James Justin and Abdul Fatawu come on for Choudhury and Mavididi. It’s getting sloppy, so hopefully some fresh legs will at least be sloppy...faster?

84’ - What a chance! Fatawu does brilliantly to get past his defender on the right. It finds McAteer at the far post and he somehow puts it over from point-blank range.

89’ - GOAL! They thought it was all over. It is now. Leicester play a brilliant, unorthodox break. Vardy finds Dewsbury-Hall on the left and he does brilliantly to turn his man and go through on goal. With only the keeper to beat, KDH squares it for McAteer who has the simplest of tap-ins for his fourth goal of the campaign.

90’ - EIGHT MINUTES of added time are going to be played. No clue where those came from.

98’ - A dull eight minutes it proved to be.

FULL TIME: Norwich City 0 - 2 Leicester City

That’s an incredible number, especially considering I don’t think he got so much as a mention in the report. I need to think on this for a while.