Iheanacho ‘punished’ Tottenham star to score for Leicester, claims Keown

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Martin Keown believes Kelechi Iheanacho ‘punished’ Tottenham Hotspur star Eric Dier to score Leicester City’s third goal. The striker struck in first-half stoppage-time on Saturday.

Tottenham took an early lead at the King Power Stadium during their Premier League trip to the East Midlands. But Nampalys Mendy (23’) struck out Rodrigo Bentancur’s (14’) goal with a sublime strike. James Maddison (25’) then hit before Iheanacho (45+4’) delivered a third.

Iheanacho had only scored two goals through his 15 top-flight appearances before hosting Tottenham this season. Yet the 26-year-old now has two goals in as many outings. He had hit home one goal and created a further two as Leicester beat Aston Villa 4-2 last Saturday.

Tottenham, meanwhile, visited Leicester after back-to-back clean sheets in 1-0 wins over Fulham and Manchester City. But Harvey Barnes (81’) would further punish Spurs as Dier enjoyed his 22nd appearance of the Premier League season. He has started in 21 fixtures.

Keown slams Dier for the Tottenham star’s role in Iheanacho’s Leicester goal

Dier only sat out the action entirely while Aston Villa won 2-0 at Tottenham on New Year’s Day. He was also a substitute as Spurs edged AFC Bournemouth 3-2 on October 29 on the south coast. The 29-year-old has further featured for the full 90 minutes on 19 occasions.

Yet Keown believes Iheanacho took advantage of Dier’s instincts from playing most of his career as a midfielder to score Leicester’s third goal against Tottenham. The £25m former Manchester City striker struck home from the edge of a deputising Fraser Forster’s area.

“I rate Eric Dier as a player,” Keown told the BBC’s Final Score. “He played predominantly as a midfield player and it cost him in this situation. Dier should be coming right up to the ball and dealing with it. He stands off it too much and, in the end, he gets punished.”

Dier has now played 348 times for Tottenham across all competitions after facing Leicester and Iheanacho on Saturday. He joined Spurs from Sporting Lisbon for £4m back in August 2014. Of his 22 Premier League appearances this season, each has come from centre-half.

The 49-cap England international also featured from central defence during all six of Spurs’ Champions League group stage ties. He opened the action in each Group D fixture, as well.