Conclusions from Ewood Park

Blackburn Rovers	2-1	Leicester City
	(HT 1-0)
Nuno Gomes 33 Pedersen 79		Vardy 55

Ewood Park, attendance: 13,935
BBC Match Report

---

• A familiar tale. For the second (away) game in a row, Leicester were edged-out having been the better team for much of the game. That said, whilst Charlton Athletic deserved their midweek victory over the Foxes, Blackburn Rovers hardly did, and only a superb finish from Nuno Gomes was the difference between Blackburn and Leicester. Many comparisons can be made between this match and that at the Valley but City must take positives away from these two away performances, if not the result. Three points from three is hardly a wonderful start, but the manner in which those games were played seems so much more encouraging than a year ago.
• Clinical finishing is key. Yet again, the Foxes were beaten by a team who had fewer chances on goal: Blackburn's eight attempts (of which four were on target) yielded two goals, whilst Leicester's twelve chances (seven on target) saw the net bulge just once. There are improvements to be had at either end - Jamie Vardy's touch is bound to improve over time, whilst the return of Sean St Ledger will, one assumes, shore-up the defence - but this was far from a poor performance from the Foxes, merely a disappointing end result.

---

Winners

Jamie Vardy

After a false start to his league campaign, Vardy finally got off the mark in the second tier at Ewood Park. He would have had a second, too, had an over-excited linesman not rudely raised his flag to chalk-off a pinpoint header that would have put the Foxes ahead. Vardy continued to look dangerous as the game wore-on, creating chances for himself and unselfishly for his team mates. There is more to come from City's new main-man but he already looks like he might be a bargain.

Andy King
Rightly returned to the starting eleven in place of Matty James, Andy King has stamped his authority on the first team with a confident, measured performance akin to the exciting, free-scoring midfielder of two years ago. King was brilliant across the park, engaging equally in defence and attack to cause problems for Rovers. Ultimately, his performance included everything but a match-winning goal.

---

Losers

Paul Konchesky

Last season, Paul Konchesky was a confident and assured presence at full-back aside from the odd off-day where he was poor, or got sent-off, or both. It was highly distressing, then, that against Rovers Konchesky was the weak-link in Leicester's makeshift back-four. Let's hope this was just one of those off-days, or City's defensive weaknesses are greater than first thought.

Lloyd Dyer
Far from starting slowly, Lloyd Dyer's season got off to a cracking start... and has already stumbled. With Anthony Knockaert, ahem, knocking at the door of a starting place, Dyer must be looking over his shoulder and wondering if he is at last going to be overtaken by a younger and more skilled winger than himself. In a straight foot race, Dyer has the edge but, in terms of ball delivery and close control, Knockaert is miles ahead. Only Nigel Pearson's favour can save Dyer now, surely. Dyer's game at Ewood Park echoed the story of his season to date, starting well but fading quickly to nothing before the end.