Mahrez Nets Late Winner At Luton
Having returned to the UK on Sunday following a productive Premier League Asia Trophy campaign, the Foxes began the first of three friendlies this week with a win at Kenilworth Road.
City were dominant throughout the game and boasted 18 opportunities on goal compared to Luton’s six. Eldin Jakupović, making his first start of pre-season, didn’t have to make a save.
It was, however, all about match minutes for Craig Shakespeare's men, as the Leicester manager handed 20 players game time on Wednesday – Jakupović and Ahmed Musa both played 90 minutes.
Opportunities in the first period fell to Harry Maguire, Callum Elder and Marc Albrighton, while Wilfred Ndidi, Islam Slimani, Tom Lawrence and Danny Drinkwater all came close for the Foxes after the break.
Musa, lively all game, proved to be the key for City as his fine solo run saw him glide past goalkeeper James Shea before setting up Mahrez.
The Algerian took a touch before his effort came off Shea and found the back of the net right in front of the travelling Blue Army – Mahrez’s second goal in three pre-season outings.
Key moment
Luton stopper James Shea rightfully won the home side’s Man of the Match award after making several key stops in both halves to keep the Foxes at bay.
Introduced after the break, Riyad Mahrez had the ball at his feet on a number of occasions, cutting inside from the right flank more often than not.
But it was the work of Ahmed Musa that proved vital for City, as the Nigeria international did brilliantly in the left channel to tempt Shea off his line before squaring to Mahrez.
City’s No.26 did not pull the trigger straight away, but when he did, the power generated proved to be enough to beat Shea.
Who impressed?
Ahmed Musa’s link-up play from the left wing will have most certainly pleased manager Craig Shakespeare. A full 90 minutes was no doubt beneficial for the Leicester winger, too, and while he wasn’t on target himself, an assist for Riyad Mahrez’s late strike was very much deserved.
Another man who looked comfortable was midfielder Wilfred Ndidi, who managed to win the ball on several occasions, while he was unfornunate not to score after losing his footing at the last minute while one-on-one with James Shea.
Coming up…
The second of three pre-season friendlies in just four days comes next for City, who head to Stadium MK to face MK Dons on Friday evening (7.45pm kick-off).
A day later, the 2015/16 Premier League champions make the short trip to the Molineux Stadium for a clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers (3pm kick-off).