Leicester City will be delighted to have snatched a point against West Ham United thanks to a late equaliser from Wilfred Ndidi. The Foxes were trailing for most of the game before a deflected shot from the Nigerian international cancelled out Fabian Balbuena’s opener in the first half.
However, the hosts were certainly helped by a 38th-minute red card for West Ham’s Mark Noble for his rash tackle on Ndidi. And in this article, we will run the rule over the Leicester City players in their 1-1 draw with the Hammers.
Kasper Schmeichel (6.5/10): Failed to keep out Balbuena’s opener in the 30th minute in an otherwise quiet evening for the Danish international.
Daniel Amartey (7/10): Defensively, Amartey was solid even though West Ham, in truth, lacked any sort of incision down the right flank with Felipe Anderson struggling to create anything of note. He looked composed on the ball, attaining a pass accuracy of 84%.
Caglar Soyuncu (6.5/10): Yet another nervy outing for the Turkish international, who looked hurried and hassled for most of the game. He certainly needs a bit more time to settle into life in English football.
Harry Maguire (7/10): A dominant defensive performance from Maguire, who managed to prevent Javier Hernandez from making any inroads. The English international also hit the post once while winning four aerial duels. Remained largely untroubled, however.
Ben Chilwell (8/10): Impressive yet again as he was a definite threat for West Ham on the left-flank. Chilwell made a host of attacking surges down the flank, which helped Leicester stretch the opposition defence.
Wilfred Ndidi (7.5/10): Ndidi’s aggressive style of play paid dividends in the first half as it hurried the likes of Declan Rice and Mark Noble, giving them very little time on the ball. Aside from that, Ndidi wasn’t as influential and was lucky to score the equaliser in the dying embers of the game.
Vicente Iborra (7/10): Iborra’s lack of pace often restricted the Foxes from creating any sort of rhythm in midfield. He did make a couple of crucial tackles late in the game.
Rachid Ghezzal (6.5/10): Had a positive start to the game but eventually faded as the match went on. Was replaced by Jamie Vardy shortly after the restart.
James Maddison (5.5/10): A dismal performance from the former Norwich starlet who not only struggled to create anything of note in the final third but also let his team down with some disappointing decision making as well as occasional loss of concentration as Leicester struggled to pierce through a disciplined West Ham defence.
Marc Albrighton (6.5/10): Offensively, Albrighton was anonymous at times with most of his crosses failing to provide any trouble for the opposition defence. He remained solid, however, preventing the likes of Diangana and Zabaleta from influencing the game in the Leicester half.
Kelechi Iheanacho (6/10): His lack of scoring prowess was evident as he struggled with the end-product despite showing glimpses of some delicate interplay with his teammates. Demarai Gray around the hour mark replaced him.
Substitutes
Jamie Vardy (6/10): After a controversial omission from the starting lineup, Vardy made his introduction in the second half but like most of his teammates, he failed to trouble the West Ham backline. His pace and tenacity did provide Leicester with a better attacking option than Iheanacho however.
Demarai Gray (6/10): Made his much-awaited return to full fitness after a substantial spell on the sidelines. Although he wasn’t influential after coming on for Iheanacho in the 61st minute, Leicester fans will be excited to have him back.
Shinji Okazaki (NA): Replaced defender Caglar Soyuncu in the 80th minute as Claude Puel grew desperate to snatch the elusive equaliser.
Stat courtesy: Whoscored
