Season Review: Three Wins On The Spin In October

In the latest edition of LCFC.com's daily 2017/18 season review, let's take a look back at October...

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Mahrez celebrates adding another stunner to his collection.

City 1 West Bromwich Albion 1
King Power Stadium
Premier League
Monday 16 October
Mahrez 80' / Chadli 63'

Riyad Mahrez fired home a late equaliser to help Leicester City earn a 1-1 Premier League draw with West Bromwich Albion at a blustery King Power Stadium.

Craig Shakespeare made three changes to the side that drew 0-0 with Bournemouth last time out, as Vicente Iborra came in to make his first Premier League start for the Club.

The first chance of the game went West Brom’s way, as Nacer Chadli fired harmlessly wide from Kieran Gibbs’ cross on 18 minutes.

But the best chance of the first period undoubtedly went to Danny Simpson, who on his 100th appearance for the Club, was denied a first Foxes goal after forcing Boaz Myhill into a good stop.

Opportunities for Jamie Vardy and Harry Maguire followed after the interval, while Mahrez should really have done better with a strike from 10 yards, but couldn’t hit the target.

Then came West Brom’s opener through Chadli, who from 30 yards curled in a stunning free kick to give his side the lead with 63 minutes on the clock.

Tony Pulis’ men stood strong soon after to repel City’s advances and Shakespeare knew a change must be made.

In came Ben Chilwell and Islam Slimani, who both played a part in the Leicester goal.

Chilwell surged down the left and curled into Slimani, who got up well and nodded back across goal to find Mahrez.

The Algerian took a touch before driving low past Myhill and into the back of the net with 10 minutes to play.

A powerful strike by Maguire from distance might have won it for the Foxes, but Myhill was equal to it and both sides had to settle for a point.

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Okazaki celebrates with Mahrez in south Wales.

Swansea City 1 City 2
Liberty Stadium
Premier League
Saturday 21 October
Mawson 56' / Fernandez 24' og

A superb performance against Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium saw Leicester City record their first away win of the 2017/18 Premier League campaign.

Under the stewardship of Caretaker Manager Michael Appleton, the Foxes were dominant from the off as Lukasz Fabianski made two fine saves inside the opening 10 minutes, before Jamie Vardy was denied by the Swansea stopper shortly after.

Fabianski then turned away Wilfred Ndidi’s close range shot, but the 2015/16 Premier League champions did not have to wait much longer before they broke the deadlock.

The menacing Riyad Mahrez, who bagged his first goal of the campaign against West Bromwich Albion on Monday night, delivered from the left flank and Federico Fernandez turned the ball into his own net.

City had to do some defending following the opener, as central defensive partnership Harry Maguire and Wes Morgan stood strong to nullify the Swansea threat and help their side head into the break with a 1-0 advantage.

Just as they had started the first half, the Foxes continued to impress following the interval and scored a second goal that was again orchestrated by Mahrez.

Marc Albrighton lifted a brilliant pass into the path of the Algeria international, who squared across the face of goal for Okazaki – the City No.20 made no mistakes to net his fifth of the term in all competitions.

Swansea replied seven minutes later, though, as Alfie Mawson controlled Renato Sanches’ corner before turning and firing in from close range.

Efforts from Chelsea loanee Tammy Abraham and former Fox Kyle Naughton followed, while at the other end, Vardy was denied by Fabianski after a darting run from Mahrez.

The Swans piled on the pressure in the closing stages in an attempt to salvage a point, but City, as they did all game, defended resiliently to grind out the win.

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Leicester City celebrate scoring their third goal of the evening.

City 3 Leeds United 1
King Power Stadium
Carabao Cup Fourth Round
Tuesday 24 October
Iheanacho 30', Slimani 71', Mahrez 88' / Hernandez 26'

Leicester City recovered from a one-goal deficit to beat Leeds United 3-1 at King Power Stadium to book their spot in quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.

An even start the game yielded few goalscoring opportunities, with Jay-Roy Grot going closest to breaking the deadlock, only for Ben Hamer to make a fine stop at the front post just before the quarter-hour mark.

Thomas Christiansen’s men did take the lead shortly after, though, but there was little Hamer could do about it.

Pablo Hernandez worked space for himself on the edge of the box before firing into the top corner with 26 minutes on the clock.

But that goal only seemed to spur on the Foxes, who just four minutes later were level. Kelechi Iheanacho collected a loose ball and set himself before bending a shot into the bottom corner to make it 1-1.

The lively Demarai Gray struck the crossbar with a powerful 25-yard drive at the end of the first period, but it was after the break that the Foxes began to find their rhythm.

Two opportunities for Gray came following the interval, while Academy Graduate Andy King sent a strike over after some good work down the right from Islam Slimani.

On the hour mark, it was Slimani who this time got himself into a good position, only to head over Marc Albrighton’s cross from six yards out, but he didn’t have to wait much longer for his goal.

A well-weighted pass from Vicente Iborra found Iheanacho in the channel and after taking a touch, the Nigeria international frontman delivered a low cross into the box.

Slimani broke free of his marker before side-footing in past Felix Wiedwald.

With City in front and in control, they began to pass the ball about with confidence and with two minutes to play scored a third goal.

Substitute Riyad Mahrez ghosted in from the right wing and curled into the bottom corner to seal the win for his side.

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The City No.9 celebrates his opener against Everton.

City 2 Everton 0
King Power Stadium
Premier League
Sunday 29 October
Vardy 18', Gray 29'

First-half strikes from Jamie Vardy and Demarai Gray helped Leicester City record a 2-0 Premier League win over Everton during Claude Puel’s first game in charge of the Foxes.

For the Club's Remembrance Fixture, the Frenchman made seven changes to the side that beat Leeds United, deploying a 4-2-3-1 stratagem against the Merseyside outfit at King Power Stadium.

Puel’s men were rampant in the first half as Gray, Wes Morgan and Ben Chilwell all went close inside the opening 10 minutes.

The Foxes’ first goal came not long after, courtesy of a stunning run from Gray.

He sprinted with the ball from inside his own half and surged past the Everton midfield before offloading to Riyad Mahrez – the Algerian calmly squared to Vardy to fire home for 1-0.

Mahrez had an effort saved by Jordan Pickford shortly after, while at the other end, Dominic Calvert-Lewin missed a big chance to equalise, but couldn’t connect with Aaron Lennon’s cross.

A stroke of luck saw the Foxes double their lead just before the half-hour mark. Jonjoe Kenny attempted to clear Gray’s cross, but sliced the ball into his own net past Pickford.

Two attempts from Kevin Mirallas came just before the break. The first flew wide, while Kasper Schmeichel had to get down low to tip the second behind as Everton put the hosts under pressure.

A spell of defending for City followed after the interval, with the Leicester back line standing strong on a number of occasions to halt the Toffees attack.

Everton continued to flow forward but Puel’s outfit matched them and looked dangerous on the break.

With four minutes to go, Vicente Iborra played a one-two with Vardy, only for the impressive Spanish midfielder to poke wide from inside the area.

Toffees left back Leighton Baines hammered a half-volley towards goal with a minute to play, but Schmeichel watched the strike fly harmlessly over the bar.

October in numbers:

LCFC goals: 8
Top scorer: Mahrez (2)
Premier League ranking: 11th