Dominant City Ease Past Stoke

The result meant Craig Shakespeare, who made one change to the side that beat West Ham United after Marc Albrighton reported unwell, became the first British manager to win his opening four Premier League games. 

The Foxes should have been in front on six minutes, when Yohan Benalouane dragged a half-volley wide of the mark from inside the six-yard box, while Shinji Okazaki and Jamie Vardy both failed to convert at the back post shortly after. 

With City piling on the pressure, Demarai Gray then sent a powerful drive just inches wide of the mark, but the hosts didn’t have to wait much longer to take the lead. 

Danny Simpson played the ball square to Wilfred Ndidi, who 25 yards from goal took a touch to set himself before sending a stunning strike into the top corner – his first Premier League goal for the Club. 

Further opportunities followed for Gray, Okazaki and Riyad Mahrez in the first period, while at the other end, Potters striker Saido Berahino failed to beat Kasper Schmeichel from a tight angle. 

Just two minutes into the second half, Jamie Vardy crushed any hope of a Stoke comeback and it was Simpson who again would be credited with the assist. The right back delivered a pin-point cross from the right to City’s No.9, who volleyed home first time to make it 2-0. 

The introduction of Peter Crouch certainly spurred on Mark Hughes’ outfit and the former England international twice came close to finding the back of the net. First, he fired wide under pressure, while his header in injury time was superbly tipped to safety by Schmeichel.

Major moment 

The Foxes headed into the second period hoping to build on their one-goal advantage and they did exactly that on 47 minutes. 

Already 1-0 up thanks to Wilfred Ndidi’s 25th-minute piledriver, Jamie Vardy slammed home a fine volley to double the City lead – his fourth goal in his last four Premier League games. 

Who impressed? 

While deployed to play in a defensive midfield role, Wilfred Ndidi has never been hesitant to venture forward when the opportunity arises. 

We’d already seen that against Derby County in the Emirates FA Cup in February and Saturday proved no different, as the Nigeria midfielder produced a sensational strike to open the scoring. 

Ndidi has been excellent since he joined the Club in January and has forged an impressive central midfield partnership with Danny Drinkwater. 

Where do we stand? 

A fourth-straight Premier League win means Craig Shakespeare’s men remain six points clear of the bottom three following Hull City’s victory over West Ham United. 

The Foxes’ triumph saw them leapfrog both West Ham and Burnley to move into 13th position in the table with nine games to play. 

Coming up… 

Leicester City will contest a second Premier League fixture at King Power Stadium in four days when Sunderland come to Filbert Way on Tuesday evening (7.45pm kick-off). A win could see them move as high as ninth in the table.