Norwich City supporters applaud their players after a valiant effort against the Foxes eventually ended in defeat 2-1.
There was no doubt that promising signs were present. Despite this, the Canaries have conceded 10 goals in 3 games, causing them to descend to second from bottom, only ahead of an Arsenal team with a bleak outlook. Following the international break, the two sides will meet at the Emirates Stadium in what promises to be an intriguing match.
Daniel Farke made two changes from the side that was humiliated by Manchester City: Kenny McLean replaces Lukus Rupp in the midfield 3 and Brandon Williams moves to left-back in place of Dimitris Giannoulis.
Only eight minutes had gone by when Williams tried to play the ball, but took an unbalanced touch, allowing Leicester City's Ricardo Pereira to make a quick break past Ben Gibson and find an unmarked Jamie Vardy who expertly placed the ball into the far corner.
Norwich had been stunned but tried to get back into the game through McLean shooting at Kasper Schmeichel with the pile-driver from the edge of the box.
A poor pass from Foxes defender Caglar Soyuncu forced Milot Rashica into an intercept, finding Lees-Melou, whose left-footed curler was saved by Schmeichel down to his right.
The Foxes challenged City's goalkeeper with a back-to-front counterattack. Youri Tielemans finds Harvy Barnes who is tackled, allowing Vardy to intercept and poke a shot straight at a smothering Tim Krul.
In the 44th minute, the game turned as Norwich won a penalty. Melou, charging into the box, is picked out by Max Aarons who is then taken down by Soyuncu. The VAR took some time to make the decision, but Teemu Pukki eventually took the penalty and nonchalantly stroked it home into the bottom left corner just before halftime to tie the match.
Norwich had the benefit of being level at half-time. In the second half, they responded well, sparking a counter-attack led by Rashica, who dribbled past Timothy Castagne with a clever nutmeg before picking out Todd Cantwell, who missed the target from outside the area.
Leicester however, was the team to lead on the 76th minute - substitute Kelechi Iheanacho, easily stroked past Billy Gilmour, who passed to James Maddison, where he finds Vardy on the edge for him to curl a pass to Marc Albrighton, who fires a low driven shot that was deflected into the bottom corner.
In the end, Norwich thought they earned a point, only for VAR to sabotage their celebration. Rashica whipped a corner into the six-yard box, and McLean found the bottom corner with a well-placed header. At Carrow Road, the linesman raised his flag as the fans mourned their team's defeat.
Despite the players' and the Carrow Road faithful's effort, Norwich was unable to force the ball in the back of the net, falling short which is becoming a recurring theme for the Canaries Premier League fight for survival.
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Once again, mistakes proved costly
Norwich has only played three games; albeit against Liverpool, Manchester City and now, Leicester. The quality Norwich have faced is staggering compared to their squad, but this isn't an excuse - Norwich make too many mistakes as a collective and it's simple as that.
Norwich prefers to play from the back. There is a problem when they are being harassed by a team that constantly presses them, which causes mistakes and also lacks the quality to execute the Farke ball well (at times).
In light of this, Norwich City have signed Mathias Normann and Ozan Kabak on loan with the option to purchase - Premier League quality has been brought in, now it is up to Farke and his players to eliminate the mistakes and establish themselves as Premier League regulars.
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It's incorrect to categorize Billy Gilmour as a holding midfielder
Many have questioned Daniel Farke's decision to task Gilmour with protecting the centre backline.
"It reminds me a bit of Oliver Skipp. Different players with different skills but at the beginning, Oliver showed some solid performances but there was room for improvement and we backed him and showed him some trust. Then he was outstanding for us. We hope it will be the same with Billy" added the City head coach.
Gilmour has shown glimpses of what he can offer Norwich: specifically, the ability to pick out the full-backs and get the team up the pitch, but also to fill in a defensive midfield role as Oliver Skipp does. Norwich fans, however, have seen from Gilmour's performances thus far that he prefers to play further up the pitch - this is why Norwich signed defensive midfielder and Norwegian international, Normann.
Mathias Normann, what will he bring to Norwich City?
Despite Norwich's recent struggles, it is no secret that they have been struggling in their first 3 matches. Centre-backs: Grant Hanley and Ben Gibson have conceded a total of 10 goals already, but they haven't been helped by their teammates.
Gilmour has had difficulty matching the performance of Skipp that saw him earn a place in Tottenham's first team and now leads the league with 9 points after three games.
Normann comes to the rescue in this situation. Norwich has been crying out for a midfielder who will sit back, intercept and tackle since the chance of re-signing Skipp wasn't plausible anymore. It is Normann's job to keep things tight in the middle of the pitch, and his exceptional reading of the game helps keep his team from conceding on the counterattack.