Leicester City 0-1 Leeds United: Rutter’s strike helps Leeds end Leicester’s unbeaten run, closes in on Ipswich Town

Impressive Leeds United has been instrumental in ending Leicester’s nine-game winning streak at the King Power Stadium, as Rutter’s breezy strike helps the “Whites” to cut past their former Premier League rivals. Although several chances were squandered by both sides in the first half, Leeds was phenomenal in the second half which helped them seal the deal.

Leeds end Leicester’s unbeaten streak

Leicester City has been one of the brilliant teams this season, in the Championship. After getting relegated last season from the English top flight, the Foxes have shown their urge to end their short stint at the Championship. They currently are on the verge of cementing their position on top of the table, with five points clear of second placed Ipswich Town, although the “Blues” have played two games less. Enzo Maresca’s side had the opportunity to extend their unbeaten streak at their home ground against Leeds, but Farke’s side was exceptional with their on-field antics against the Foxes, thus stalling their run of nine consecutive wins at the Championship.

Several chances were presented before the players from both sides, with Piroe was near to scoring the opener for Leeds, whereas Abdul Fatawu’s shot was hindered by the bar on the 11th minute. Rutter had a penalty appeal waived off after he was the victim of Casadei’s challenge, but the Whites were leading the charge in front of the goal, despite Leicester winger Mavididi looking ominous.

A strong second half for Whites

Leeds had upped their game in the second half, following some enthusiastic pep-talk from their boss Farke, who was booked following protests regarding his side having a penalty. For their goal, Sam Byram was responsible for setting up the attack, when he headed the ball from a corner towards Leicester goal, which was closely converted by Rutter after Byram’s shot was thwarted away by Hermansen.

With this victory, Leicester remain on top with Leeds closing in on second-placed Ipswich to six points, as the Foxes had seen their gap being reduced by the Whites to 11 points. Leicester had decided to bring on Iheanacho for the quiet Leicester City veteran Jamie Vardy, as the Nigerian’s shot was well blocked by Joe Rodon before Meslier pulled on a world-class save on the fifth minute of stoppage time when Dewsbury-Hall decided to go for the top left corner for an agonizing equalizer.

“I’m happy”

Leicester boss Maresca was seen speaking about his team’s performance after the heart-wrenching defeat against fellow title contenders Leeds United. He was head saying to BBC Radio after the game, “Overall I’m happy with the performance because they competed, we created some chances. I don’t think we deserved to lose the game, but it’s football. We always say the same, we cannot control the results, but we expected them to use their weapons like counter-attacks, it was the game we expected.”

“The race is long, 46 games, we cannot think to win, win, win, win, it’s normal that we are going to lose and draw games, and win for sure. But in the end the most important thing is the way they behave and that tonight has been good – we created chances, tried to play our football and so for me overall it was a good performance.”

On the other hand, Maresca’s opponent tactician Farke was seen speaking about his side’s performance, after their historic win against the Foxes. He was all praise for his players, as he said, “To be brave, to play football with courage and to go for it with confidence was the key today. When you want to get something in such a game you have to be brave and you have to make sure that you have periods in the game where you bring the game to their half, you press them really high with bravery and when you’re good in possession you hurt them with your possession.”

“You can’t have these periods over 90 minutes, there are also periods where you have to be structured and allow them possession in areas where they can’t hurt you and don’t offer them any spaces where they can create chances. So to bring such a complex performance on the pitch, on the one hand to be brave and our high pressing, to be good with the ball and dominate, but when they are in possession – because they are so good with the ball – to stay disciplined, to stay well structured and have the possession more or less in their own half where they can’t hurt you, I think that was definitely the key today.”