| Leicester City | 4-0 | Doncaster Rovers |
| (HT 1-0) | ||
| Drinkwater 33 Peltier 47 Marshall 78 Gallagher 88 |
Home Team: Schmeichel, Peltier, Konchesky, Bamba, Morgan, Dyer (Gallagher 61), Drinkwater, Wellens (King 58), Marshall, Beckford (Schlupp 81), Nugent
Away Team: Ikeme, Beye, Ilunga, Lockwood, Chimbonda
, Oster, Coppinger, Barnes (Robert 74), Gillett, Piquionne (Brown 20), Diouf (Stock 46)- This was the Foxes on form. Whilst City's inconsistency continues, this performance was as solid as any this season. The scoreline doesn't flatter a great Leicester display but rather speaks volumes of Doncaster's plight as they remain firmly rooted to the bottom spot. Four goals - three very good ones and one, Lee Peltier's, arguably an own goal - should offer a confidence boost to a squad which has suffered through low morale, injuries and reported disruptions in the camp in recent weeks.
- Is the on-off playoff push on again? This column has previously rubbished any chance City have of making the playoffs this season... but. Coventry and now Doncaster are the only two of the bottom six that City have beaten but with Ipswich, Millwall and Burnley all winnable games in the coming weeks it remains a distinct possibility that the Foxes could finish close, if not in, the top six. Only the final two games of the season present real issues, but with matches against Leeds always unpredictable and the reverse fixture against West Ham offering some solace in defeat, who knows what May might hold?
Winners
Ben Marshall
Bang on form and with bags of talent, new boy Ben Marshall has dazzled with three goals now in royal blue. Today's was amongst Leicester's goals of the season but aside from his curvaceous strike, Marshall provided a constant threat. His pace and skill on the wing, his eye for a pass and his ability to feed his team mates into good positions combined to deliver three of the Foxes' four goals this afternoon.
Danny Drinkwater
Unlike Marshall, fellow January arrival Danny Drinkwater has failed to live up to some expectations but came of age as he bossed the midfield with Richie Wellens this afternoon. Rewarded with his first Leicester goal, Drinkwater is certainly a tidy young player but is beginning to show all the signs of a very bright future.
David Nugent and Jermaine Beckford
More often than not now playing as a pair - if one has a bad day, the other does too - today both of Leicester's front men were on form. Although neither David Nugent nor Jermaine Beckford got themselves onto the score sheet, both men played well and would have deserved that reward.
Andy King and Paul Gallagher
Two of the Old Guard returned from injury and both played well. Paul Gallagher grabbed City's fourth goal after a wonderful move where Marshall combined with Andy King who in turn fed Gallagher on the edge of the eighteen-yard box who fired home.
Danny Drinkwater
Unlike Marshall, fellow January arrival Danny Drinkwater has failed to live up to some expectations but came of age as he bossed the midfield with Richie Wellens this afternoon. Rewarded with his first Leicester goal, Drinkwater is certainly a tidy young player but is beginning to show all the signs of a very bright future.
David Nugent and Jermaine Beckford
More often than not now playing as a pair - if one has a bad day, the other does too - today both of Leicester's front men were on form. Although neither David Nugent nor Jermaine Beckford got themselves onto the score sheet, both men played well and would have deserved that reward.
Andy King and Paul Gallagher
Two of the Old Guard returned from injury and both played well. Paul Gallagher grabbed City's fourth goal after a wonderful move where Marshall combined with Andy King who in turn fed Gallagher on the edge of the eighteen-yard box who fired home.
Losers
The City Defence
The Foxes gathered a clean sheet today but it was more by luck than judgement. At the back, the partnership of Wes Morgan and Sol Bamba was shaky and still Lee Peltier is caught too far up the pitch. That Kasper Schmeichel is low in confidence - never a good sign in a goalkeeper - is only greater cause for concern, with his position completely unchallenged by Chris Weale and Conrad Logan. Doncaster were able to break through the Filberts' defence, despite losing both their strikers and reverting to one man up front for the second half. The squad, the manager and the fans must have faith in their club's defence if any true Premier League campaign is to materialise now or next season, as Leicester will come up against far better sides than lowly Doncaster Rovers.
The City Defence
The Foxes gathered a clean sheet today but it was more by luck than judgement. At the back, the partnership of Wes Morgan and Sol Bamba was shaky and still Lee Peltier is caught too far up the pitch. That Kasper Schmeichel is low in confidence - never a good sign in a goalkeeper - is only greater cause for concern, with his position completely unchallenged by Chris Weale and Conrad Logan. Doncaster were able to break through the Filberts' defence, despite losing both their strikers and reverting to one man up front for the second half. The squad, the manager and the fans must have faith in their club's defence if any true Premier League campaign is to materialise now or next season, as Leicester will come up against far better sides than lowly Doncaster Rovers.
Carl Ikeme
The former City loanee had a woeful time with the home side well on form in attack. Carl Ikeme was one of many stand-ins under Nigel Pearson's last tenure and, on this showing, the Foxes' manager made the right choice in not snapping him up permanently.
3 comments:
Ikeme was an Eriksson loanee wasn't he? Played 5 games in 2010
Schmeichel low in confidence, are you for real!?!?
I believe he is low in confidence, he's hardly been the rock he was during the first half of the season and was definitely handed the captain's armband last week to give him a boost. As for Ikeme, I can't believe he was here that recently!
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