A first Bonfire Night meeting between these two clubs since 1927 was ready to explode into life, but just required someone to light the fuse. Throughout the first half that looked more likely to be the visitors, mainly due to the fact that Everton’s defence looked uncharacteristically shaky given back-to-back clean sheets in their last two matches. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall had an attempt blocked after Idrissa Gueye gave the ball away in his own half, which was followed by James Maddison seeing his rebound deflected behind.
A total of 14 wasted opportunities before HT showed a completely different Leicester to the one that won 4-0 away at Wolverhampton Wanderers from four shots on target in their last performance on the road, leaving Brendan Rodgers hoping for a moment of quality from his side. Thankfully for him, that moment arrived with their 15th and final attempt of the half, and what a moment it was. Maddison, reworking a blocked shot from Boubakary Soumaré, passed the ball to Tielemans, who received it outside the box, before flicking it up to himself and unleashing a rocket into the top-left corner off the underside of the crossbar.
Frank Lampard obviously had some choice words for his side during the break, and now with no opportunity for a third consecutive shutout for the first time since March 2021, the Toffees came out gunning for an instant equaliser. It was perplexing how they weren’t back on level terms within five minutes of the restart when Dominic Calvert-Lewin saw a low shot denied by the trailing leg of Danny Ward, and would prove to be the striker’s last involvement before going off injured painfully close to the start of the FIFA World Cup.
As the clock ran down, so too did the hosts' chances of turning the game on its head and climbing into the top half of the table. After Calvert-Lewin’s miss the opportunities became few and far between, and it was eventually punished in the dying minutes by Harvey Barnes. Teed up by Maddison, the winger turned in the box and fired past the helpless Pickford to seal the result, and most importantly send Brendan Rodgers’ side above Everton into 13th.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Youri Tielemans (Leicester City)
