Leicester City player ratings v Preston with three 4s dished out as problems exposed in defeat
Jeremy Monga’s history-making goal could not save Leicester City as Milutin Osmajic’s late finish consigned Marti Cifuentes to defeat in his first away league game in charge at Preston.
Monga became the youngest scorer in Championship history when he levelled midway through the second half, the 16-year-old looking like he would salvage a point from a poor City performance.
But pushing men forward, City were caught out on the break with five minutes to play and Osmajic finished confidently to grab three points for Preston.
The City fans, restless throughout with chants criticising their own team, booed the players off the pitch as they prepared for their return to Leicester empty-handed.
Making one change from the victory over Sheffield Wednesday, Cifuentes opted to start with the team that began the second half last weekend, with Harry Winks in for Oliver Skipp. James Justin, despite talk of a switch to Leeds, stayed in the team as captain, with Bilal El Khannouss, Abdul Fatawu and City’s other high-profile stars selected too.
But despite the quality in their line-up, City were poor in the first half and deserved to be behind, even if Preston’s goal came from an individual error.
Seven minutes in, Jakub Stolarczyk scampered out of his box to try to mop up a long ball, but got himself caught in no man’s land.
Alfie Devine knocked it around him and while the goal was empty, there was still lots of work to do, the Tottenham loanee finishing really well from a tight angle outside the box.
City, as they were against Wednesday, looked susceptible to the long ball, and Preston exploited that route forward, creating chances for Osmajic and Michael Smith, the first mis-hit, the second headed inches wide.
Cifuentes’ side offered very little in reply, with Caleb Okoli’s blocked header from a corner their best chance.
The lack of quality on show saw City’s travelling support grow restless and they chanted critically about their own team’s performance, with the expletives loud and clear at Deepdale.
Patson Daka came on at the break for El Khannouss, but City still had no joy and nearly went further behind, Osmajic failing to turn in Thierry Small’s low cross from only a few yards out.
Not satisfied, Cifuentes made two more changes. On came Monga and Wout Faes. Then City sparked into life.
Just after the hour, Monga sent Justin away down the left and his low cross found Abdul Fatawu. The Ghanaian slid in and turned the ball goalwards, but former City keeper Daniel Iversen somehow stuck out an arm to block the shot on the line.
Preston could only celebrate for 30 seconds though. City fed the ball back to Monga, he cut inside onto his right foot and hit a shot low and hard to beat Iversen at his near post, becoming the youngest goalscorer in Championship history.
All of a sudden, City were on top and their fans were fully behind them. They piled the pressure on and Ayew slammed a shot into the outside of the post.
But throwing men forward, they left themselves exposed, and it proved costly. On the break, Small delivered a perfect cross from the left and this time Osmajic made no mistake, peeling off Jannik Vestergaard and finishing past Stolarczyk first time.
City had around 10 minutes to muster a response, but failed to create any openings, and only looked more likely to go further behind on the counter-attack.
Cifuentes’ first away league ended in defeat, and with plenty of problems to address. Here’s how we scored the players.
Jakub Stolarczyk: He left himself in no man’s land with a dreadful decision to come to meet the long ball, and he didn’t get many chances to redeem himself, only stopping Osmajic from making it 3-1 late on. He did take a few good high claims though, and his quick, accurate throws set up a few City attacks they should have made more of. 5
James Justin: Defensively he was strong in the first half, but wobbled early in the second period, and was beaten by Small for pace. Going forward, he was effective at picking up decent positions, and nearly had an assist, crossing low for Fatawu’s chance that was brilliantly saved by Iversen. 6
Caleb Okoli: While Smith and Osmajic were tough opponents to battle against, Okoli did a decent job, and was much improved from last weekend. He was strong when he had to be, and passed reasonably well too. 6
Jannik Vestergaard: For the most part, he was very good, his raking passes finding the wingers and his well-timed last-ditch tackles getting City out of trouble. But he let Osmajic peel off him for the winner and lacked the pace to deal with Preston’s late counters. 6
Luke Thomas: He was caught out by the long ball down his wing time and time again and didn’t look comfortable defending one-on-one either. He did do well to lean on Osmajic and put him off from scoring a tap-in in the second half though. 4
Boubakary Soumare: For 40 minutes, he was barely involved, failing to produce the dominant midfield performance City required. But he got better as the game went on, passing forward well and carrying the ball powerfully. 5
Harry Winks: He was fine, but nowhere near the influential midfield presence he was in the opener last week. He looked frustrated by some of his team-mates’ decision-making. 5
Bilal El Khannouss: He looked frustrated by City’s inability to create, and so tried to take matters into his own hands, only then to do too much and lose possession. He was still one of City’s better players, but that didn’t stop him being taken off at half-time. 5
Abdul Fatawu: An off-day. He had very little joy against Small, who matched him for pace, and his crosses were often over-hit. His shot choice was poor too, albeit he did go close to a goal when sliding in. 4
Jordan Ayew: Frustrated the fans by consistently losing the ball when trying to dribble past men, and annoyed his team-mates with his greed too. He was better in a deeper role with Daka ahead of him though. 4
Stephy Mavididi: He made sure to stay wide and stay in space, making himself an option. While he usually made it to the edge of the box or further, he didn’t deliver any dangerous crosses. He lacked support at times though. 5
Patson Daka: He made runs and gave the Preston defenders more to think about but didn’t really trouble them to any great degree. Again, he wasn’t a threat inside the box. 5
Wout Faes: He stepped out of defence well to intercept high up the pitch and that kept City on the attack. But when the game got stretched, he wasn’t there to help out his defensive team-mates. 6
Jeremy Monga: What a talent. He sparked the game into life with his footwork and willingness to take on his man, while his weight of pass was exceptional too. His goal was really well taken as well. He shouldn’t be walking off the pitch as a loser. 8
Hamza Choudhury: He was fine. There was nothing special, but no mistakes. 5
Kasey McAteer: Not on the pitch for long enough. N/A
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