Leicester City 4-1 Tottenham Hotspur: Foxes run riot against error-prone Spurs

Leicester came from a goal down against a weakened and mistake-filled Tottenham side.

Leicester City 4-1 Tottenham Hotspur: Foxes run riot against error-prone Spurs
James Maddison celebrates with teammates after scoring one of Leicester's four goals against Tottenham/Photo: Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images
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By John Lupo

Tottenham Hotspur were humbled by strugglers Leicester City as the Foxes came away with a 4-1 victory at the King Power Stadium, forcing assistant manager Cristian Stellini to apologise to the away supporters.

Leicester impressed as they scored four straight goals after conceding the opener for the second match in a row.

All seemed to be well for Spurs as manager Antonio Conte returned to the dugout following gallbladder surgery and Rodrigo Bentancur opened the scoring, diverting home Victor Kristiansen's sliced clearance.

The Foxes then turned the game on its head, scoring twice in two minutes. Nampalys Mendy earned only the second goal of his career when he crashed a first-time screamer into the top corner from the edge of the box.

Soon after, Wout Faes' tackle on Harry Kane in midfield ricocheted into the path of Kelechi Iheanacho, who squared for James Maddison to score.

Eric Dier made the mistake of switching off Iheanacho, who found the back of the net with a shot into the bottom corner just before half-time.

With less than ten minutes to play, Harvey Barnes, who saw a goal disallowed for offside by VAR earlier, took a pass from Maddison and slotted home.

Story of the match

Conte made three changes to his side, Fraser Forster deputising for the injured Hugo Lloris; Japhet Tanganga replaced the suspended Cristian Romero and Pedro Porro made his debut, coming in for Emerson Royal.

In what looked to be a sign of things to come, Bentancur nearly scored seconds into the match, but he blazed his effort well over the bar. At the other end, Maddison curled a free-kick wide.

On 11 minutes, Harry Kane played a brilliant one-touch ball to Ivan Perisic, who found acres of space, but shot wide. Danny Ward then tipped the Croat's free-kick over.

Three minutes later, Tottenham were in front. From a corner, Kristiansen cleared off the line, but from the second corner the Dane miscued his clearance straight to Bentancur, who poked home from six yards out.

Leicester levelled after Bentancur headed a corner away, but Mendy burst forward and swept an angled drive past Forster.

<strong><a  data-cke-saved-href='https://www.vavel.com/en/football/2022/02/16/leicester-city/1102040-leicester-city-vs-randers-fc-preview-how-to-watch-team-news-predicted-line-ups-and-ones-to-watch.html' href='https://www.vavel.com/en/football/2022/02/16/leicester-city/1102040-leicester-city-vs-randers-fc-preview-how-to-watch-team-news-predicted-line-ups-and-ones-to-watch.html'>Nampalys Mendy</a></strong> scores the tying goal for Leicester against Tottenham/Photo: Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images
Nampalys Mendy scores the tying goal for Leicester against Tottenham/Photo: Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images

Two minutes after Mendy's goal, Faes won a tackle against Kane on the halfway line and the ball fell straight to Iheanacho, who played Maddison in and he slotted home to give the Midlands outfit the lead.

Seconds later, Forster managed to keep it a one-goal game, tipping away Iheanacho's curler that was destined for the bottom corner.

Disaster nearly struck for the Foxes as Timothy Castagne and Ward got into a muddle in their own area, but the last action of the first half saw Iheanacho find a yard of space before curling into the bottom corner.

Just before the hour mark, Forster saved from Barnes and ten minutes later, he thought he had scored Leicester's fourth, but VAR ruled it out for offside.

Spurs made four changes over the final ten minutes, Arnaut Danjuma, the club's winter signing, being one of the substitutes introduced into the action.

However, they proved to be futile as Barnes did grab his goal, placing a right-footed finish past Forster on the edge of the area. This resounding win ensures Leicester moved six points clear of the relegation zone.

Player of the match: Nampalys Mendy

The unlikeliest of stars, the Senegalese midfielder made his first goal in Leicester colours count with a stunning strike. He made countless challenges and was neat and tidy outside of a few poor passes. A brilliant performance.