Matchday Live Talking Points: Different Solutions & Second Half Domination

LCFC TV & LCFC Radio
14 Sep 2020
3 Minutes
Matchday Live panellists Tony Cottee, Matt Elliott and Gerry Taggart reflected on ‘a tremendous result’ for Leicester City following their convincing 3-0 Premier League win at the Hawthorns over West Bromwich Albion.

- Matchday Live’s Tony Cottee, Matt Elliott and Gerry Taggart review Leicester City’s 3-0 win at West Bromwich Albion
- The former Foxes were on duty for LCFC TV and LCFC Radio on Sunday
- Timothy Castagne’s header and Jamie Vardy’s brace of penalties earned City three Premier League points at the Hawthorns

The trio of former City stars were on hand to assist with LCFC TV's live analysis of the Club’s season opener in West Bromwich, where two Jamie Vardy penalties and a debut goal for Timothy Castagne secured the points.

Throughout the season, LCFC TV and LCFC Radio will provide expert coverage of the Foxes’ seventh-straight campaign Premier League, and Sunday proved to be no different as all three discussed Leicester’s perfect start to 2020/21.

A commanding performance

Harvey Barnes was twice denied in the first half by Sam Johnstone in the West Brom net.

Gerry Taggart said: “It’s a tremendous result. The one person you need to ask about that result, and that performance, is probably the person that had the least to do today, and that was Kasper Schmeichel, because that second-half performance was as commanding as it gets. In the end, it was like a training game. Leicester were passing the ball at will with no pressure whatsoever. Leicester just took the wind right out of their sails.”

A joy to watch

Kasper Schmeichel celebrates at the full-time whistle with manager Brendan Rodgers.

Tony Cottee said: “Well, I think everyone connected with the Club should be really happy with that. It must have been a joy for the fans to watch at home. I certainly enjoyed it, and it’s a fantastic result. Sometimes you get the result and not the performance, and vice versa, but I think there was a little bit of everything from everyone in there today.”

Different solutions

Dennis Praet was part of a midfield three, and set up Timothy Castagne's opener in West Bromwich.

Matt Elliott said: “It looked like a tough task in the early stages, didn’t it? I thought Leicester would do well to get something out of the game with the way they started. They certainly had confidence and faith in themselves. A few people were making moves out of their normal zone of play, but they kept trying to come up with a different solution. The three in midfield wasn’t that effective early on, but all of a sudden, they started getting space and finding gaps. They started looking effective from that moment onwards.”

Castagne’s game-changing goal

The Belgium international's first appearance resulted in maiden goal and a clean sheet for the Club.

Gerry Taggart said: “We saw it in the second half of the first half where they got the passing going and gaps started appearing. Definitely, once the first goal went in, West Brom didn’t really have any answers. I thought he was immense today, Timothy Castagne. There will be sterner tests coming up, but to go out in the first game of the season, away from home, and to get a clean sheet, it’s a great performance overall.”

Second half domination

Leicester City's opening day win saw them finish the day in second position in the Premier League.

Tony Cottee said: “The first 20 minutes were dominated by West Brom, but after that, I thought West Brom were poor. The reason they were poor is that Leicester were very, very good, particularly in that second half. They totally dominated the second half, they made West Brom look poor and there were some really, really good performances. They capped it off with three goals, it was just a really, really good day.”

A boost for players & fans

Jamie Vardy scored two penalties to secure a 3-0 win for Leicester City at West Brom on the opening day of 2020/21.

Matt Elliott said: “It was convincing. West Brom ran out of ideas. They couldn’t adapt to Leicester once they got into their stride, and it was pretty impressive all round. They’ll be disappointed, but we’re here to look at Leicester’s performance. There was an element of scepticism as to how the season would pan out, but that performance will have boosted the hopes of the players and supporters.”