Swansea City failed to upset Michael Appleton in his first game in charge of Leicester City, losing 2-1 at the Liberty Stadium.
Leicester took the lead as Riyad Mahrez took the ball inside while Swansea’s players were busy protesting that the ball had crossed the line, fizzed a ball into a dangerous area for Federico Fernandez to head the ball past his own goalkeeper.
The second goal came on the counter attack, as Marc Albrighton clipped the ball to the far post for Mahrez to play the ball across for Shinji Okazaki to finish past Lukasz Fabianski.
Alfie Mawson gave Swansea some hope, finishing extremely well for a centre-back on the turn following Renato Sanches’ corner.
Defence let down by loss of concentration
Lukasz Fabianski - 8
There was little Fabianski could do about either of the goals. He made two very good saves inside the first 10 minutes from Albrighton and Okazaki, especially the former’s effort should have found the back of the net but for a fine save.
Without Fabianski the scoreline would have favoured Leicester by an even further margin. Made a crucial save at 2-1 to stop Jamie Vardy from scoring in a position many would expect him to.
Kyle Naughton - 3
For the opening goal, Naughton stopped to appeal for the ball crossing the line for a goal kick. It didn’t cross the line, and Mahrez was able to drift inside as Naughton switched off and cross for Fernandez to nod the ball in the back of his own net. He struggled defensively all game, failing to deal with Albrighton.
Federico Fernandez - 5
A poor header resulted in the own goal to give Leicester the lead. However, early on while Leicester were the more attacking threat, Wilfried Ndidi had an effort from close-range saved by Fabianski but Fernandez had to be switched on and reacted well to stop Okazaki from tapping the ball in the back of the net.
Alfie Mawson - 7
The England hopeful, who recently pledged to donate 1% of his wages to charity following in Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata’s footsteps, didn’t do a lot wrong this afternoon. He wasn’t able to utilise his passing game to the best of his abilities because of the weather conditions though.
His goal was extremely well taken, which is something that has been mentioned about Mawson previously, scoring like a forward after Jordan Ayew’s flick on.
Martin Olsson - 5
Olsson made a good few runs down the left side, and generally did well marking Mahrez as the goal came from the Algerian swapping flanks. He did however switch off for the second goal, protesting for offside instead of trying to get back to stop Mahrez from getting another assist. Olsson made a couple unnecessary fouls on Mahrez though which didn’t help Swansea’s game.
Midfield bypassed
Renato Sanches - 6
The Portuguese international has had a mixed start to life in South Wales, but he was one of the few who was trying to play passes through the lines and create something for his forwards. He wasn’t afraid to get stuck into tackles either but his set-piece delivery definitely has room for improvement though, which seems to be a running theme for Swansea players this season.
Leon Britton - 5
Struggled to pick up Okazaki when the Japanese international dropped into the midfield, which seemed like a lack of communication between the back four and the midfield three. Was replaced at half-time by Ki Sung-Yeung.
Tom Carroll - 4
Carroll was rarely involved in possession, and did little to disrupt Leicester either. These kind of conditions don’t help Carroll’s game, but definitely needed to improve. He did make an important tackle while Leicester were counter attacking late on, but they were only able to start that counter because Carroll gave the ball away.
Lack of involvement in the front three
Luciano Narsingh - 5
The Dutchman had a quiet afternoon before he was subbed off for Nathan Dyer, despite getting Christian Fuchs booked early on in the game.
Tammy Abraham - 5
Abraham was a lonely figure all game, and had to feed off scraps against two good defenders in Wes Morgan and Harry Maguire.
Jordan Ayew - 6
Ayew was the most involved of the front three, dropping deep and cutting inside when necessary, which is key as Swansea play without a number 10. He wasn’t as involved after switching to a striker role once his side moved to a 4-4-2 in the second half.
Subs
Ki Sung-Yeung - 6
Brought on at half-time for Britton, and definitely did force the issue more than Britton did. He is on the comeback from injury and looks to be forcing his way back into the starting side very soon.
Nathan Dyer - 7
Subbed on for Narsingh, just at the right time as Swansea were looking more threatening just after Mawson’s goal. Definitely added another dimension that Narsingh didn’t bring, and Swansea looked more likely to score a goal down that side once he was brought on.
Wayne Routledge – 5
Brought on for Sanches to try and level the scoreline, but he didn’t really get involved in the game. He did have a late shot drilled into the side netting though as Swansea bid to get a late equaliser.