How we scored the Leicester City players Jordan Ayew’s thrilling late equaliser gave Leicester City a draw in their crucial match against Ipswich at the bottom
In a thrilling match against 10-man Ipswich, Jordan Ayew scored late once more for Leicester City to give Steve Cooper’s team a point.
As City fought for a piece of the action, Ayew came on as a late substitution. He scored in extra time, just like he did at Southampton, to earn what could be a crucial point in the struggle for the bottom spot. It kept City five points clear of the drop zone and prevented Ipswich from winning for the first time.
Leif Davis’ spectacular strike had given City the impression that they were going to lose, but Kalvin Phillips’ red card 15 minutes from the end offered them a chance to win. They eventually had their prize after piling soldiers forward.
Cooper made two unexpected alterations to his previous Premier League lineup while he was serving a touchline ban from the press box. Victor Kristiansen, who is back to full fitness, replaced James Justin, who was benched for the first time this season. Jannik Vestergaard was given his first start since August, while Caleb Okoli was kept on the bench.
City got off to a quick start and had a chance to take the lead after three minutes by sticking to the Enzo Maresca-inspired setup used against Nottingham Forest. After being discovered in space, Wilfred Ndidi gave Jamie Vardy a flawless through pass. The attacker was aware enough to cross to Stephy Mavididi, who was unmarked, but he failed to make good contact with the bouncing ball.
To get their attacking skills on the ball, City played more fluid football, and they put Aro Muric to the test twice. Starting despite being doubtful before to the match, Abdul Fatawu curled a long-range attempt that had to be parried, and Facundo Buonanotte came close to scoring a spectacular goal on his own after defeating three men before the Ipswich keeper stopped him.
Nevertheless, the home team had the better two chances of the first half. City had had a fright during their strong start, with Sammie Szmodics heading over from six yards out to almost punish Vestergaard’s weak touch.
The fact that they lost control of the game for the last twenty-five minutes of the first half, however, will have saddened them even more. Dara O’Shea should have done better with a back-post header from a corner, but Ipswich dominated and most of their opportunities came from range.
Despite starting the second half stronger than they had at the end of the first, City was unable to stop Ipswich from gaining the lead. Ipswich swiftly restarted after Mads Hermansen gave away a cheap throw-in, and City was not on guard when Davis was hit by a clipped pass at the back post. The Ipswich left-back met the ball with a lavish volley to the far corner, and Fatawu failed to keep up with him for the first time.
City had trouble getting into the attack even though they were chasing the game. Before Phillips’ red card gave them a lifeline, the game appeared to be stalling out. Ipswich had a good chance of winning a penalty in the dramatic 30-second play when Fatawu collided with Conor Chaplin, but Phillips was given his second yellow card for a late tackle on Ricardo Pereira.
City created the opportunity for an equaliser by piling men forward. Ayew had the finest chance, but Cameron Burgess’ goal-line save denied him when he dinked over the Ipswich keeper after Buonanotte sent a half-volley over and Muric saved his drive.
Then, however, came the time that City required. After chasing down Sam Morsy to regain possession of the ball, Boubakary Soumare pushed another guy aside to feed Ayew. To secure a point, the Ghanaian completed a one-two with Vardy and finished under Muric.
Mads Hermansen: He had exceptionally poor distribution, especially when it came to his clipped passes out to the wings, one of which resulted in Ipswich’s first goal. He didn’t use his hands very often. 5.
Ricardo Pereira: He got City on the attack in space by luring the Ipswich press early on and making timely deliveries. He was shut down after that, though, and didn’t really get on the ball again. The ball for Davis’ goal did glide over his head, but Ipswich’s defensive attention was on the opposing team. 5.
Wout Faes: Faes did well to remain unfazed by Delap’s attempt to rough him up. The Ipswich striker beat him by one spin, but he defended well after that. 6.
Jannik Vestergaard: He continued searching for passes between the lines despite a bad touch that nearly cost him in the early going. He cleared crosses when necessary, but it didn’t seem like he had much difficult defensive job to do. 6.
Victor Kristiansen: He was assiduous in his work when confronted one-on-one by a challenging client in Hutchinson, and he was only truly defeated when Chaplin arrived to assist. There were far too many unnecessary lumps forward on the ball. 6.
Wilfred Ndidi: He was little engaged after playing a beautiful through pass to Vardy in the first few minutes. Although he typically excels at leaving his imprint on a game, he didn’t do so from an attacking or defensive standpoint. 4.
Harry Winks was City’s key man on the ball, dictating their play when they did get it down and moving it around the pitch, although he had to do more defensive work than they would have wanted. Despite his dubious shot selection, he had the energy to keep moving forward. 6.
Abdul Fatawu: A difficult performer to evaluate. Despite repeatedly defeating Davis, he rarely produced quality play, even if his dribbling and ball control in confined spaces were superb at times. He put forth a lot of effort on defence, but the one occasion he failed to follow Davis resulted in an Ipswich goal. 6.
Facundo Buonanotte: In the beginning, he was entertaining to watch. He almost scored an incredible solo goal and has amazing ball-carrying skills. He was absent for a while after suffering a neck injury, but he came back to life in the last fifteen minutes and was the driving force behind all of City’s wonderful actions. 7.
Stephy Mavididi: His early big chance ended badly when he fumbled his lines. His first touch suffered because Johnson didn’t give him a second to breathe. Throughout the day, he appeared irritated. 4.
Jamie Vardy: Initially had excellent awareness and movement, but he found it difficult to participate after suffering a blow to the back. His touch on the Ayew equaliser was inch-perfect, though, and his link-up play was respectable. 7.
What a cameo, said Boubakary Soumare. He gave off a lot of enthusiasm as soon as he entered the game, but his contribution to the equaliser was crucial. After charging back and winning the ball, he teed up Ayew by shoulder-barging another guy. Amazing stuff. 7.
Similar to Soumare, Kasey McAteer invigorated the team. Although he picked up respectable positions, he didn’t significantly contribute to the attack. 6.
When it may have been crowded, Bilal El Khannouss was stuck wide to the left, stretching Ipswich. However, his deliveries into the box weren’t the riskiest. 5.
The man for the big occasion is Jordan Ayew. made a difference by snagging excellent offensive situations as soon as he stepped onto the pitch. After missing one golden opportunity to score, he scored in extra time. 8.
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