Foxes sting the Bees in 2-1 home defeat

By Alessandro Schiavone at Brentford Community Stadium

James Maddison hit the clincher to condemn Brentford to more home misery as Leicester City outfoxed the hosts 2-1 on their shores on Sunday afternoon.

The Bees were head and shoulders above Leicester but failed to strike the iron when it was hot and sting the Foxes, as they missed a string of chances through Bryan Mbeumo, Pontus Jansson and Ivan Toney.

Leicester were repeatedely stretched and cut open in the first-half but edged ahead thanks to Youri Tielemans’ rocket after 14 minutes.

Zanka’s flicked header from a Mathias Jensen corner pulled the Bees level but the pendulum swung away from Brentford when Leicester broke which saw Maddison place Patson Daka’s square pass into the empty net.

It was job done in laboured fashion for the in-form Foxes as Brentford have now lost three of their last four home games. Their impressive opening-day thumping of Arsenal remains their only home win this season.

Throughout the game Leicester backed off, conceded spaces out wide and possession to their opponents before hitting them twice against the run of play.

Things looked promising early on for Brentford who showed attacking intent and a willingness to exploit the Foxes’ shaky backline thanks to the rotation of their movements, pace and penetration.

Leicester City keeper Kasper Schmeichel made a fine save straight after kick-off to deny Christian Norgaard an early goal before Pontuss Jansson anticipated the Dane but headed just over.

Brentford’s Ivan Toney had a goal disallowed after seven minutes when Rico Henry cut on to his right foot and teed him up at the back post.

Another chance went begging for the Bees when the underwhelming Mbeumo dragged a left-footed effort wide of the goal after latching onto a right-on-the-money flick from Toney.

Leicester were all over the place defensively but still level after as Brentford’s high-octane display didn’t produce goals.

And after fortuitously keeping the Bees at bay, the Foxes bit the Bees where it hurt most.

Tielemans pounced on a poor clearance from Rico to hammer a first-time volley into the roof of the net after 14 minutes. The Belgian, who is yet to commit to a new deal with the East Midlands club, has done his wish to get a pay rise by Leicester or to attract the admiring glances of top European clubs no harm with an impressive display today.

In the 35th Toney soared unchallenged from Frank Onyeka’s cross but Schmeichel was alert and produced an excellent fingertip save.

On their return from the dressing room, Leicester looked reinvigorated from a creative and motivational perspective. Being 1-0 up after doing so little must have worked wonders for their confidence.

Brentford were on the ascendancy throughout the first-half but lacked bite and Leicester’s Premier League experience was the difference between the two sides.

Brendan Rodgers’ men tried to sail into clear waters after the interval and Maddison’s dipping shot drew a competent save from David Raya between Brentford’s sticks.

Former Lille star and Ligue 1 champion Boubakary Soumare had a crack from distance but Brentford weathered a brief storm and got the leveller their terrific first-half display merited.

The Bees finally stung the Foxes when Zanka soared unchallenged to send a glancing header into the far corner and beyond the grasp of Schmeichel.

Jansson then had the chance to put his side 2-1 up but his flicked header fizzed wide of the post.

And just as Brentford were running out ideas and steam Maddison placed Daka’s square pass into the empty net after a quick counter-attack , initiated by a long ball forward from Schmeichel.

For large parts of the game Leicester were unable to lay a glove on Brentford but they exposed their inexperienced opponents on the break and expertly took their chances against a Bees backline that was anything but watertight.

The next three games against Burnley, Norwich and Newcastle will define whether this dismal streak is a just a bump in the road or a real crisis for a side that won hearts and minds after the first few games of the season. Thomas Frank knows it, his players know it, the fans know it. These are the season-defining games that will make or break their campaign.

Brentford FC

1 David Raya- 3 Rico Henry- 5 Ethan Pinnock – 6 Christian Norgaard- 7 Sergi Canos- 8 Mathias Jensen- 15 Frank Onyeka- 17 Ivan Toney- 18 Pontus Jansson- 19 Bryan Mbeumo- 22 Mathias Jorgensen

Subs: 40 Alvaro Fernandez- 4 Charlie Goode- 9 Marcus Forss- 14 Saman Ghoddos- 20 Kristoffer Ajer- 28 Mads Bidstrup- 30 Mads Roerslev- 33 Edmond qMaghoma-36 Finley Stevens

Leicester City

1 Kasper Schmeichel – 4 Caglar Soyuncu- 6 Jonny Evans- 8 Youri Tielemans- 9 Jamie Vardy- 10 James Maddison- 14 Kelechi Iheanacho- 18 Daniel Amartey- 21 Ricardo Pereira- 27 Timothy Castagne- 42 Boubakary Soumare

Subs: 12 Danny Ward- 5 Ryan Bertrand – 7 Harvey Barnes- 17 Ayoze Perez- 20 Hamza Choudhury- 22 Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall- 23 Jannik Vestergaard- 29 Patson Daka