There was late drama at the King Power as Leicester City maintain their perfect start to the season, thanks to a 92nd minute debut goal by Cesare Casadei.
It wasn’t the only drama of the match. Leicester came closest to opening the scoring when Kelechi Iheanacho curled a shot from the edge of the area beyond goalkeeper Jak Alnwick, but the effort bounced back off the post.
Then there was the big shout for a penalty as Stephy Mavididi was bundled to the ground, but the ref thought otherwise.
The first half was lit up by two stunning strikes. One from Foxes Academy talent, Wanya Marcal-Madivadua, who saw his shot from the right hand side of the box, fly through a crowd of players into the top corner. His first senior career goal. The second coming from Cardiff’s veteran midfielder Aaron Ramsey, equalising just before the break with a truly spectacular strike from almost 35 yards.
The second half saw Leicester with the lion’s share of possession, but struggling to find a way through, and it was Cardiff City who had the bigger chances. Striker Yakou Meite found himself one-on-one with Hermansen, only for the former Reading striker to pull his shot wide. Hermansen was on hand again to push a shot from Joe Ralls round the post.
We got used to late drama last season, but it didn’t tend to go City’s way. Now, with an air of belief around the stadium that we could still find a winner, we started to see that Foxes Never Quit attitude return. With time running out and as the clock ticked over into stoppage time, Jamie Vardy’s twist and turn in the box saw him brought down, initially appealing for a penalty, the loose ball fell to Cesare Casadei and he was on hand to fire the ball home from close range, sending home fans jumping for joy. If ever a lesson in never stopping play to appeal, this was it.
The King Power faithful are witnessing a footballing revolution. Football played the Enzo way means your left back gets on the end of a counter attack, your right back plays most of the game in central midfield and your goalkeeper and centre backs become the base from which your play is built.
We are four games into the season now, the players are getting to grips with how the manager is asking them to play. Ball retention is key to Enzoball. Short sharp passes, moving your opponent around the pitch in an attempt to beat their press – allowing your forward players to go and attack. It’s a new way of thinking and playing and the players are slowly picking it up. Us fans need to buy into it too, and not panic or groan when we play our way out of trouble.
Old habits die hard and there were still screams of “just get rid of it!” and heads sinking into hands as Ricardo played the ball across his goal to Faes, which then started a counter attack that leads to our left back Doyle shooting just wide.
Once the players get completely comfortable with what’s being asked of them, the ball retention will be better, the passes will be sharper, the pace in attack will get quicker and the goals will flow. Until then we have to be patient and trust the process.
MOTM for me was Callum Doyle, brilliant in defence, he was high energy and always on hand to support the attackers. He was a real threat during the whole game.
Next up, an away day at Rotherham, who have taken just one point from their opening three games. They struggled in the Championship last season, following promotion from League 1, eventually finishing just three spots above the drop zone. There are no easy games in the Championship, and Rotherham will be looking to start building points for the season, but if Leicester can continue with their current style and belief, then let’s hope this should be a fourth league win in four.
Words by Bhavik Ghelani.
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