With Leicester seizing the initiative in their Champions League group, we take a look at the five things we learned from their 1-0 win over Porto.
Leicester City’s Islam Slimani celebrates scoring their first goal
Leicester City beat Porto 1-0 in their first Champions League game at home to maintain their winning start in the competition.
Islam Slimani headed the only goal of the game from a Riyad Mahrez cross, as Claudio Ranieri’s side continued their perfect start to the competition and seized the early initiative in Group G.
Leicester’s next opponents, FC Copenhagen, beat Brugge 4-0 in the other game and will meet Ranieri’s side in three weeks’ time in a game that could see the Foxes take control in their first Champions League campaign.
While Leicester’s domestic start to life as Premier League champions has been indifferent, with only seven points taken from six games, their Champions League campaign has been impressive, with Ranieri naming the same starting line-up that beat Brugge.
Should Leicester continue this run of form in the competition then their supporters will believe that they can indeed “continue the fairytale”, that Ranieri spoke about prior to kick-off, as reported by The Guardian.
But Leicester were made to work hard for their result, and went back to the basics that won them the Premier League title last season, a solid backline that hits teams on the counter attack.
After the game, BBC Sport reported that Ranieri said: “We suffered in the last 10 minutes but it was important to win. Concentration was high, we were resilient, I’m very happy.
“We played with our spirit tonight. The last pass wasn’t always there, but Riyad Mahrez made one fantastic pass for Slimani.”
Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri
With the balance of the group firmly in their own hands, we look at the five things we learned from Leicester’s 1-0 win.
1. No longer reliant on Jamie Vardy’s goals
Slimani, a £29 million signing on transfer deadline day, gave Leicester the lead in the 25th minute and saw him add to the two goals he scored in the Premier League against Burnley.
With the Algerian looking like he is an impressive addition to the Leicester starting lineup, Ranieri’s side are becoming less reliant on Vardy’s goals that steered them to the Premier League title last season.
2. Mahrez still the creative spark
Against Porto, it was Mahrez that provided the cross that led to Slimani heading past Iker Casillas for the only goal of the game.
On the night Mahrez was in scintillating form, bringing back memories of last season, when he swept all aside on his way to becoming PFA Player of the Year.
Last season Mahrez provided not only goals – with 17 in 37 Premier League appearances – but also 11 assists and 20 big chances created, and continues to be the creative spark within Ranieri’s side.
Leicester City’s Riyad Mahrez shoots at goal
3. Slimani proved to be the thorn in Porto’s side
Nicknamed the Dragon Slayer during his time with Sporting Lisbon, Slimani has now netted his sixth goal in his last four games against Porto, and continues to be a thorn in their side.
The Algerian has been prolific against the Portuguese side and despite leaving Sporting in the summer continues to cause havoc whenever he comes up against them.
Leicester City’s Islam Slimani in action
4. Leicester’s destiny is in their own hands
While Ranieri’s side were made to work hard for their win against Porto, their Champions League destiny, and more importantly their Group G destiny, is in their own hands.
Currently the Foxes are top of their group by two points and will face second placed FC Copenhagen on 18th October at the King Power Stadium, with the opportunity to take control of the group.
5. Back to basics
Having struggled in their Premier League campaign so far after an indifferent start, their back to basics approach in the Champions League appears to be guiding them towards progressing from the group stages.
Against Porto, using BBC stats, Leicester had 39% possession, with 6 shots on goal and 3 on target, compared to the Portuguese side who had 61% possession, 12 shots on goal, and 3 on target, a game plan that worked to full effect as Porto can attest to.
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