Riyad Mahrez strikes again to leave Leicester in dreamland
Three points from Crystal Palace 0-1 Leicester in the Premier League as Claudio Ranieri's men claimed a critical win in their pursuit of the title.
FT
Title looms for Leicester
It's getting closer. Leicester's 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday took them eight points clear at the top, at least until Tottenham play Bournemouth on Sunday.
It was an impressively unfussy, controlled victory from a team now winning in the manner of champions. This was Leicester's fourth 1-0 victory in their past five league games -- a scoreline they'd recorded just once before that run this season -- against Crystal Palace back in October.
Their early season performances, when they were seemingly enjoying a good run of form rather than launching a title challenge, were about end-to-end matches and stirring comebacks. They've evolved significantly since then, becoming more professional, winning matches with a minimum of fuss and exerting control for long periods.
At 0-0 they spent plenty of time without the ball as Palace built pressure but this is when Leicester are at their best, able to transfer the ball into the path of forward duo Jamie Vardy and Shinji Okazaki quickly, or getting Riyad Mahrez running towards goal down the right. The combination between these three was impressive, particularly when Danny Drinkwater motored forward to become involved too.
At 1-0 they were solid defensively, their back four dominating the penalty box, protected well by the excellent duo of Drinkwater and N'Golo Kante. Drinkwater, recently called up to the England squad, was outstanding here, often dropping back to defend the near post when Palace crossed.
On the one occasion when Leicester's centre-backs were exposed against pace in the second half, with Yannick Bolasie dribbling dangerously down the left, captain Wes Morgan put in a thunderous tackle to save the day.
Magician Mahrez seals victory
This game was utterly dominated by Leicester's sensational right winger Mahrez, who terrorised Crystal Palace left-back Pape Souare and opened the scoring with a precise low shot from Vardy's low ball from the left.
Mahrez's threat had become obvious. Palace were so scared of his electrifying pace that manager Alan Pardew asked regular central midfielder Joe Ledley to spend most of the time to the left of Palace's midfield, attempting to double up against Mahrez and prevent him from cutting inside.
Mahrez's response was to push higher up the pitch into a position where Ledley couldn't help. This, combined with Souare's erratic positioning, created the clearest chance at 0-0. Leicester won possession deep inside their own half and Drinkwater immediately hit a long ball into Palace's left-back zone, perfectly into the path of Mahrez. The Algerian dribbled forward and steadied himself but shot straight at goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey. It could have been a crucial miss.
The problem with Mahrez's attack-minded positioning was that it left Danny Simpson exposed at right-back. Bolasie, Ledley and Souare all popped up in his zone, as Palace continually built pressure down their left flank. Palace had three crosses from that flank at 0-0, including their best chance of the first half, when Bolasie's deep cross was clumsily prodded past the far post by Wilfried Zaha. Bolasie's deflected shot also forced Kasper Schmeichel into a reaction save although the Dane might not have known much about it.
But Mahrez justifies his positioning with his end product. He's been involved in more Premier League goals than anyone else this season, with 16 goals and 11 assists.
This was one of his less spectacular efforts -- a simple left-footed effort under no pressure from close-range -- but it could prove to be crucial.
Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez combined for Leicester's opener.
Comments