Tielemans’ Five Most Memorable Premier League Matches

The City No.8 originally arrived in Leicester on loan from AS Monaco and made 13 Premier League appearances before the Foxes secured his services for an undisclosed fee in July of last year.

Since then, he has played a further 28 times in England’s top flight in 2019/20, and of his 41 Premier League appearances, he discussed five of his most memorable matches for the Football Club in a recent interview with LCFC TV.

A Premier League bow at Wembley

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Youri Tielemans

Youri Tielemans' Premier League debut came against Tottenham Hotspur in February 2019.

Although his Premier League debut ended in a 3-1 loss at Tottenham Hotspur, Tielemans’ first taste of English football saw him play at the world-famous Wembley Stadium.

At the Three Lions’ national stadium, goals from Davinson Sánchez and Christian Eriksen put Spurs 2-0 up, and while Jamie Vardy pulled a goal back, Heung-Min Son wrapped up the points for the hosts in injury time.

Tielemans said: “I think in the moment, you don’t realise you’re playing your first game in the Premier League at Wembley. It’s like the stadium to start in.

“It was a big stadium and I remember the pitch, it felt very, very big. When you’re on the pitch and the whistle blows, it just starts and it’s just football.

“You just try to do your thing, like you’ve always done. When I think back at it now, it was impressive.”

Youri’s first City strike

A much more enjoyable afternoon followed for Tielemans nearly a month to the day later, and it came against another London outfit.

This time, making his fifth Premier League appearance for the Club, the Belgian opened his account for City in the 21st minute against Fulham at King Power Stadium.

Striker Vardy unselfishly teed up the midfielder before adding a brace of his own to make it a century of goals for the Foxes.

“A big thanks to Jamie Vardy, because he was one-on-one with the goalkeeper and he decided to pass the ball sideways,” said Tielemans.

“I didn’t expect it, to be fair. Not because of Jamie, but because when you’re one-on-one with the goalkeeper, you just shoot and it’s a goal!

“So yes, a big thanks to him and it was my first one, so it was even more important for me. We won that game as well, so that was even better for the team, but personally, I was very happy.”

A big win against Arsenal

A favourite also picked out by Jonny Evans, Tielemans selected City’s 3-0 success against Arsenal in April 2019 as one of his most enjoyable matches for Leicester – and for good reason.

A superb ball in from James Maddison was met by the head of Tielemans, who once again set City on their way to a convincing win – this time against the Gunners – before Vardy scored twice late on.

“I remember this game,” Tielemans said. “I think it was, since I’m here, one of our best performances as a team.

“Everything was just perfect in that game, we were very patient, I scored the first goal I think in the 60th minute, but before that, even though we didn’t score, I felt we were in control the whole game through. 

“Once we scored the first one, then the second one and the third, it was a brilliant win. As well, we played at home so it was very good in front of our fans.

“You just felt the atmosphere was so positive in the stadium, inside the dressing room as well. We were very happy after the game. The whole performance was just perfect.”

Last-gasp winner versus Burnley

The following campaign, a mid-October victory against Burnley sparked wild celebrations from Tielemans, who wheeled away after netted a late winner against Burnley.

Former Fox Chris Wood had earlier opened the scoring – a strike cancelled out by Vardy – before Tielemans smashed the ball into the top corner with 16 minutes to play.

Not only was it a successful day for Tielemans et al, but it kick-started City’s stunning eight-game winning run in the Premier League.

Tielemans said: “If I’ve got a good memory, we didn’t play well. I remember when we got back at half-time, the manager wasn’t happy at all with our performance.

“He said we were too slow, not strong enough in duels. We weren’t quite in the game, and even though we didn’t play well it was still tight, the game was tight.

“We had a lot of the ball but didn’t do enough with it. Burnley just played their game – long balls, physical game, so we had to match up to that.

“I think second half we came out much better. We scored but we got a goal against. My goal was in the second half and the other ones were first half.

“I remember when I scored that goal it felt like a relief, not only for the team but for the fans as well, because we weren’t good.

“Still, we won that game and after in the dressing room I remember we were all looking at each other and we said: ‘We were awful today, but we won and that is most important’.

“That’s sometimes how you have to win to get where we are now - in the third spot.”

Sweeping the Saints aside

Just six days after defeating the Clarets, City became the first team in Premier League history to win 9-0 away from home.

Such was the dominance of Leicester, when Tielemans found the net on 17 minutes, they would go on to score seven more goals in an emphatic performance at St. Mary’s Stadium against Southampton.

For Tielemans, meanwhile, his strike proved to be the third of four consecutive goals for club and country, with the first coming for Belgium against San Marino in another 9-0 win.

“What a game that was!” he recalled. “I think that’s the perfect game we’ve played. The Arsenal one was one of the best we’ve played as well, but this one was absolutely massive. The biggest away win in the Premier League.

“Everything was just perfect for us. We scored early on in the game and unfortunately for them, they got a red card.

“But even if they stayed with 11, I don’t think they would have matched up that day because we were so strong, so powerful.

“We were relentless in our game and that’s the mentality we are building with this group. I would love to talk about the game every day! It was so positive, it was such a big win. Such a big team performance.

“I think everyone in the game just stood out. We had two players with a hat-trick if I remember. Ayoze [Pérez] got his first hat-trick, Vards (Jamie Vardy) got his hat-trick as well. Practically the whole team scored! We were very happy and it was very good.”