The latest Leicester City news and opinions after the team’s season-high 5-0 victory over Stoke City.
What’s the best method to recover from the disappointment of a failed deadline day move? I believe Leicester City may have just answered that question with their biggest win of the season.
The club had planned to finalize a deal for Italian midfielder Stefano Sensi in the late hours of Thursday night. But delays meant that time ran out before the 11 p.m. deadline.
The player has returned to Inter and may even be selected in the team for Sunday’s Serie A match against Juventus. City, meanwhile, was left with less choices in the number 8 position than at the start of the window.
Chelsea recalled Cesare Casadei earlier in the window, and Wilfred Ndidi is anticipated to be out for some time after undergoing surgery on an injury. But City demonstrated that it may not be a major concern when they returned to action against Stoke City on Saturday.
Kasey McAteer, who generally plays out wide, was chosen to start in midfield alongside Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, rather than Yunus Akgun, who had scored twice from the bench the previous two games.
The academy graduate scored the second of City’s five goals that afternoon. He was substituted at halftime by Dennis Praet after receiving a yellow card in the opening 45 minutes.
Patson Daka (x2) and Jamie Vardy (x2) scored the other goals on a comfortable afternoon at the Bet365 Stadium. Fans in the away end cheered Enzo Maresca’s name throughout the game, expressing their support for the Italian following some dissatisfaction in the first half against Swansea City.
Those cries persisted in the second half, as did songs about moving higher and winning the league. At the end, a banner said ‘playing football the Enzo way’.
Questions were made regarding the manager’s style, as well as dissatisfaction about the late transfer deal falling through. A 5-0 victory is a fantastic reminder of how well the team on the field is going this season.
The win takes the team 11 points ahead of Southampton in second position, after Ipswich lost at Preston. The deficit to third place is now 12 points.
72 points in the first 30 games of the season demonstrates how well Maresca is doing. Even if the Italian was disappointed by certain aspects this week, it did not translate on the field, and that is the ideal approach to deal with disappointment. Long may it continue.
