A scintillating show of attacking football saw Leicester City return to the summit of the Sky Bet Championship, as Sky Sports were treated to five goals, as Rovers’ defensive woes continued in their 4-1 defeat to the Foxes which sealed three league defeats on the trot.
Despite a much-changes side seeing out a 5-2 victory over Cardiff City in the Carabao Cup Third Round, in the week, Jon Dahl Tomasson made one change from the last league game, which was the 4-3 defeat away at Ipswich Town, nine days ago. Dilan Markanday was the incomer who replaced the fatigued Harry Leonard, as the former Spurs attacker looked to build on his electric performance in midweek which saw him net the fifth goal against the Welsh side.
With the Sky Sports cameras all in place at Ewood Park and the 3,270 Foxes fans in fine voice, both sides made their way out onto the hallowed turf aiming to secure three points. It was Sam Szmodics who got the game started, with the midfielder having fond memories of facing the Foxes in Blue and White, after netting the winner in Rovers’ memorable victory at the King Power Stadium, in last season’s FA Cup.
The deadlock only lasted four minutes as Leicester managed to get themselves back to the top of the table with a lead that came early on, courtesy of Wout Faes. The Foxes won an early corner which Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall played short to Stephy Mavididi. The ex-Arsenal man managed to find a good angle to deliver an inviting ball which was met by the head of the rising Faes who managed to direct the ball inside the post, via a touch off the glove of Aynsley Pears, for 1-0.
Rovers weren’t going to lie down as three minutes later, the home side were up the other end with a corner of their own which fell to Andrew Moran who was lurking on the edge of the area, but his effort from range was blocked before Leicester cleared their lines.
After just nine minutes, parity was soon restored as Sam Szmodics continued his fine form to start the season as he notched his sixth goal of the campaign and his second successive goal versus the Foxes. After Leicester tried to play it out from the back, Moran seized on Mads Hermansen’s weak pass to Faes before clipping the ball into Szmodics who saw his header straight into the palms of the Danish goalkeeper. Hermansen then tried to build out from the back as he looked to pick out Harry Winks on the edge of the box, but the press from Lewis Travis saw the former England international dispossessed. A tackle by Ricardo Pereira slid the ball into the feet of Szmodics, who took a touch to send the Portuguese defender back to Leicester, before slotting into the bottom corner for 1-1.
Rovers upped their intensity in the 12th minute as Callum Brittain was fortunate to see his tackle fall into the path of Moran, but the Brighton and Hove Albion’s effort veered wide from a tight angle.
The Irishman was again involved in Rovers’ next move, two minutes later, as he collected the ball and drove through the heart of the Leicester side on the counter, but after teeing up Dilan Markanday, the tricky attacker saw his effort well followed by Hermansen, who claimed the ball with ease.
Abdul Fatawu became the first player to be shown a yellow card by referee James Linington after the Ghanaian committed a foul on the left-wing. From the resulting wide free-kick, Szmodics tried his luck from range, but the audacious attempt by the Rovers goalscorer was well-held by Hermansen.
Speaking of audacious, in the 25th minute, Jamie Vardy nearly made his mark on the game with a fantastic half-volley that was almost reminiscent of his goal against Liverpool in Leicester’s title-winning season. Thankfully for Rovers, the strong attempt crashed off the bar and fell behind for a goal-kick.
Two minutes later, Leicester were on the attack again as Mavididi found Dewsbury-Hall, but the former Luton Town loanee’s effort cleared the crossbar.
The next effort by the visitors came moments later as a brilliantly well-worked move was emphatically finished off by Vardy, who basked in the abuse from the home support in the Blackburn End. A Leicester throw-in in their own half saw Rovers cut straight open. Mavididi’s big switch over to Abdul Fatawu took most of the Rovers players out of the game, as they couldn’t keep up with the tempo of the Leicester attack. The on-loan Ghanian wasted no time in finding Wilfred Ndidi whose run stretched Rovers’ already out-of-sorts defence. The Nigerian played a low, first-time cross towards Vardy who had beaten Carter for pace, before taking a left-footed touch to get the ball under control prior to smashing the ball, with his weaker foot, into the roof of the net, for 2-1.
After half-an-hour, Mavididi was booked for stopping a quick free-kick that Travis tried to play.
From the set-piece, Rovers managed to craft half a chance, as Markanday’s low cross was aimed towards Moran, but the midfielder tripped over his own feet before the defenders cleared the ball.
In the 43rd minute, Travis and Szmodics combined again, but the latter’s header towards goal was blocked by the well-placed Leicester defence.
Despite three minutes of time being added onto the end of the first period, neither side was able to really show more quality in-front of goal, as Mr. Linington called time on a relatively mixed first 45 minutes, from Rovers’ perspective.
Whilst Jon Dahl Tomasson would have been frustrated with the goals that his side had conceded, he would have taken some encouragement from the way his side had continued to play with confidence and intent, as they continued to create chances, despite going behind early on. The boss would have wanted more energy from his side as they were showing that they were able to go toe-to-toe with the big spenders in the division.
Enzo Maresca would have equally been pleased with his side’s performance, but for different reasons. The Italian would have encouraged his side to stick to their principles, despite the manner in which they conceded the Szmodics goal, but the two-time UEFA Cup winner would have been delighted with how his side had manufactured their second goal with some slick movement and cutting-edge passing.
Once both sides returned to the field for the second period, it was Jamie Vardy who got the second-half restarted as Leicester were looking to secure their eighth victory of the season.
Jannik Vestergaard became the third Fox to be booked after he chopped down Andrew Moran on the edge of the area, after the quick loanee left the Leicester midfield eating his dust, but Szmodics’ attempt at goal failed to trouble the Dane in goal, as the ball curled past the post.
In the 48th minute, Hayden Carter became the first Rover to be booked after he brought down Dewsbury-Hall.
Harry Pickering soon saved Rovers from falling to a two-goal deficit. After Jamie Vardy was threaded through and was forced wide after skipping past the onrushing Pears, the Premier League and FA Cup winner looked to pick out Ndidi but the Nigerian saw his shot deflect behind off Pickering, who was in the right place at the right time.
Rovers soon broke from the Leicester corner as a scrappy counter-attack eventually saw Pickering pull the ball back which deflected into the path of Szmodics, but Rovers’ top scorer’s first-time effort ended up in the Blackburn End.
During the stoppage, Leicester made their first change as Kasey McAteer came on to replace Abdul Fatawu.
After some time passed, Aynsley Pears went down nursing his foot as he was steel feeling the effects of his previous clash with Jamie Vardy. Eventually after some treatment, it was decided that the goalkeeper would be replaced, which triggered a double change by Jon Dahl Tomasson in the 62nd minute as Leopold Wahlstedt replaced the departing Pears, whilst Tyrhys Dolan came on for Arnór Sigurðsson.
Some fantastic play down the right saw Dilan Markanday burst down the wing before James Justin slipped which allowed the winger to fire a cross in, but the rocket of a delivery proved too high for Dolan to deal with at the far-post.
Adam Wharton was the latest player to be booked by James Linington, after the midfielder fouled Ndidi in the centre of the park.
Enzo Maresca soon turned to his bench again as Hamza Choudhury and Yunus Akgün replaced Stephy Mavididi and Ricardo Pereira.
In the 76th minute, Leicester made two more changes – one of which was enforced after Kasey McAteer seemingly pulled his hamstring on the counter-attack – as Cesare Casadei and Kelechi Iheanacho were introduced for the stricken McAteer and the game’s difference-maker, Jamie Vardy.
Moments later, arguably Rovers’ best chance of the half came as Dolan picked out Travis who saw his shot from near the penalty spot well-parried by Mads Hermansen, but it fell to Szmodics who saw his own effort well denied by Vestergaard before the away side cleared.
Leicester soon managed to earn some more breathing space between themselves and Rovers in the 81st minute, as after they won a corner, James Linington rightfully awarded the visitors a penalty after Hayden Carter has tugged at the shirt of Jannik Vestergaard, causing the tall defender to topple over to the ground. Kelechi Iheanacho was given the task of dispatching the penalty against the substitute goalkeeper, Leopold Wahlstedt and the ex-Manchester City attacker expertly rolled the ball to his left, as the Swede in goal jumped to the right, as the difference between the sides was increased to 3-1.
Before kick-off, Rovers made two changes as Sondre Tronstad and Semir Telalović were introduced for the booked Adam Wharton and Dilan Markanday.
Five minutes later, as the game began to die down, Rovers made a fifth and final change in the 88th minute as Joe Rankin-Costello arrived to replace Harry Pickering, as Rovers looked to try and crowd the box and encourage a late rally.
Their ambitions were soon dissolved as Leicester went up the other end and grabbed a fourth on the break, courtesy of an expertly dinked finish by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Rovers turned the ball over inside the Leicester half and were left in the dust of Yunus Akgün who played Dewsbury-Hall in-behind the tiring Rovers backline, before cheekily lobbing a crouching Wahlstedt and finding the inside of the far-post to put the final nail in the Rovers coffin at 4-1.
With Ewood Park emptying to a chorus of the Leicester fans serenading their side, Mr. Linington added on nine minutes onto the end of the game which made up for the injuries and the two goals that were scored.
The game’s final act came in the 97th minute as Joe Rankin-Costello was given the ball on the edge of the area, but despite a drop of the shoulder, his left-footed effort flew over Hermansen’s crossbar as the final whistle soon followed.
It’s really difficult each week, to try and say: ‘Rovers played well, but were unlucky’, but it’s unfortunately the reality of the form that we’re in at the moment. Whilst Rovers were seemingly well beaten according to the scoreline, the actual make-up of the game showed that Rovers were able to match such financial powerhouses in this division, on the pitch, with only striking quality and individual errors being the difference between the two sides. Whilst we can’t keep saying we were unlucky every week, there needs to be an admission that some players are out of form and need rotating in order to help the team going forwards. Another sombre point is the injury to Aynsley Pears. Whilst many have called for him to be dropped, it seems like their wish has come true, with the goalkeeper expected to be out for some time. It will definitely be interesting to see whether Leopold Wahlstedt can claim the shirt in similar fashion to how Pears took the shirt off Thomas Kaminski, last season.
With Rovers’ clash with Leicester being the final game of the matchday, Rovers find themselves sat in 18th place in the division with a negative goal-difference of -7 from the nine league games that have been played. Whilst we have only just entered October, we know after last season, how vital each goal and each point is, if we have ambitions of breaking into the top six.
There’s no rest for the wicked for Jon Dahl Tomasson and his charges are back in action on Wednesday 4th October as they travel to Coventry City for the 7:45pm kick-off which is available to view on the Sky Sports Red Button. After that tie, next weekend sees Rovers down in London as they face Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road on Saturday 7th October for the 3pm start, before the second international break of the season arrives come full-time. After the stoppage, Rovers return to Ewood Park on Saturday 21st October for another home clash with Cardiff City – this time in the league – which is also at the standard time of 3pm.
