Brighton and Hove Albion vs Leicester City. Premier League.
Amex StadiumAttendance31,185.
Free highlights and match report as Leicester slip to their fifth straight Premier League defeat; Brighton remain in the Champions League places having taken 13 points from their first six games; Alexis Mac Allister scored twice in rout
Monday 5 September 2022 06:11, UK
Brighton turned up the heat on Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers with a 5-2 win in a pulsating game that keeps the Foxes bottom of the Premier League.
The Foxes have now lost their last five Premier League games - it is their worst losing run since February 2017 which triggered the departure of then manager Claudio Ranieri. Rodgers was roundly booed as he went to clap the away fans at full-time where there was a banner with the words 'Rodgers out' written on it.
Leicester took just 52 seconds to open the scoring through Kelechi Iheanacho but their defensive issues came to the fore yet again as a Luke Thomas own-goal and Moses Caicedo goal turned the game around.
The fourth goal in a bonkers first 33 minutes came from Patson Daka as Leicester levelled it up but Brighton took over in the second half.
Alexis Mac Allister thought he had restored Brighton's lead with a stunning strike but VAR, after a four-minute delay, ruled out the strike as Enock Mwepu was offside from the first ball into the box.
That setback did not deter Graham Potter's inventive and silky side as Leandro Trossard coolly slid them in front before Mac Allister did get his goal from the penalty spot after a silly challenge from Wilfred Ndidi. The Argentine then wrapped up the points with an absolutely stunning free-kick in injury-time.
Impressive Brighton remain in the Champions League places after taking 13 points from their first six games.
It had all started rather well for Leicester and their under-pressure boss when Iheanacho, via a quick move down the left, scored the second-fastest goal of the Premier League season with just 52 seconds on the clock.
However, Brighton did not panic and a deep cross was headed back towards goal by Solly March and it found a way in through a deflection off the unfortunate Thomas. It was one-way traffic as then Caicedo spotted the space in the exposed Leicester defence and slid home past a helpless Danny Ward.
It looked like a case of 'how many' for the hosts but a Youri Tielemans ball caused confusion for Lewis Dunk and Daka kept his composure to draw his team level at 2-2. It was a pulsating opening 33 minutes.
Rodgers switched to a back five after the break with the influential Harvey Barnes departing, yet things got worse for the ragged visitors. Mac Allister thought he had netted a stunning effort from the edge of the box but VAR spotted an offside in the build-up that cut short the celebrations after a four-minute wait to get to that decision.
Brighton kept on pushing Leicester back and Trossard got the goal they deserved when scampering in behind down the left and finishing into the far corner. The Belgian then showed tremendous ability to tempt the hapless Ndidi into a poor challenge inside the area and Mac Allister swept home from the spot.
There was more to come for the midfielder as with the last kick of the game he curled home a sumptuous 25-yard free-kick straight into the top corner. Potter was in disbelief on the bench at the quality - as was Rodgers, but for very different reasons.
Brendan Rodgers, speaking in his post-match press conference, said: "We started well like we have done for a lot of the games, scored a good goal but too many mistakes with and without the ball. The players were fighting but in the second half the confidence was low as we're not getting the results and we made mistakes. A tough afternoon. Brighton were the better team.
"I never lose any belief in what I do. It's a challenge but I am responsible for results and they haven't been good enough.
"We have the players that we have, that have the skillset they have and we have to maximise what we can get out of them. It's like a jigsaw, we've got pieces missing and it's a constant challenge to try and fill the gaps where the pieces are missing. But it won't stop us trying and working to get the best results we can. Football can change very quickly. One result can breathe a lot of confidence into the players. "
Sky Sports' Lewis Jones writes:
When a team is conceding a hatful of goals it is easy to point the finger at the goalkeeper. And to solely blame Leicester's woeful defensive record this season at the gloves of Danny Ward would be harsh as Brendan Rodgers needs to take most of the flak - but it's fair to remark that the Welsh goalkeeper is hardly helping matters.
Ward holds the unfortunate statistic of now conceding the same amount of goals this season (16) as saves he has made (16). He has yet to keep a clean sheet in his nine Premier League appearances either and looked a goalkeeper on the edge in the 5-2 defeat at Brighton. One playing with no confidence or authority in his output.
But this horrendous defensive record goes back further than Ward's introduction to the side after the departure of Kasper Schmeichel to Nice. And perhaps the decision from Rodgers to install Ward as the replacement is proving to be the wrong one anyway.
Rodgers' side have now kept just one clean sheet in their last 29 Premier League away games. "I never lose any belief in what I do," the Leicester boss said. But this continued art form of shipping goals and defending with no conviction surely is obvious to Rodgers. The buck stops with him in that regard and he can complain all he wants about not having "the right pieces of the jigsaw" but ultimately it is his responsibility to make Leicester much harder to play against than they have been for over 18 months now. It's probably time for a change of philosophy and judging by the reaction of the fans at full-time perhaps a change of manager too.
"It was a great performance and an amazing win," Brighton head coach Graham Potter told Sky Sports.
"The players were incredible to recover like we did and we were the better team. The second-half performance was fantastic.
"The boys stuck to the task and played well over the game. I'm a little disappointed with the goals we conceded, but I'm not going to be picky when we scored five."
Brighton's next game is away to Bournemouth on Saturday September 10 - kick-off 3pm - before they face rivals Crystal Palace at the Amex Stadium on Saturday September 17, with kick-off again at 3pm.
Rodgers will now have to plan for a reunion with Steven Gerrard, who he coached at Liverpool and came up against in Scotland when they were in charge of Celtic and Rangers, respectively.
Leicester will host Aston Villa on Saturday September 10, with kick-off at 3pm, before travelling to Tottenham on Saturday September 17, live on Sky Sports, with kick-off at 5.30pm.
