Leicester 2 Club Brugge 1: Shinji Okazaki and Riyad Mahrez fire Foxes to Champions League dreamland
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LEICESTER CITY’s fairytale goes on as they qualified for the Champions League knockout stages after defeating Club Brugge.
Goals from Shinji Okazaki, Riyad Mahrez secured the 2-1 victory at the King Power Stadium and top spot in Group G.
Claudio Ranieri called on his side to continue their fairytale 2016 by getting out of the group stage in Europe’s premier competition.
They only needed a point to secure that feat, but the Foxes sank their teeth into the visitors’ early doors to claim all three.
Just five minutes were on the clock when Shinji Okazaki met Christian Fuchs’ cross to fire the Premier League title holders into the lead.
Then with half an hour gone they doubled their advantage from the penalty spot courtesy of Riyad Mahrez following a foul on Marc Albrighton.
The Belgian outfit pulled one back just six minutes into the second half courtesy of Jose Izquierdo, but despite a few nervy moments, Leicester held firm.
FACTS, STATS, GOALS AND LOLS
- Claudio Ranieri only made one change from the team which lost to Watford on Saturday, with Daniel Amartey making way for Andy King, yet Leicester looked a totally different team. How bad must that make Amartey feel?
- Only joking Daniel! However it was startling how much more switched-on Leicester were at the start than they had been at Watford when they took kick off and conceded inside the opening minute!
- Club Brugge hadn’t won any of their last nine games against English opponents – failing to keep a clean sheet in any of them. It didn’t take the Belgian’s long to realise this wasn’t going to be the night they re-wrote history as they leaked an early goal.
Claudio Ranieri offers some advice to defender Christian Fuchs during the clash with Club Brugge
- Claudio Ranieri stuck to basics, put round pegs in round holes and returned to the tactics which won the title last season – it took just five minutes for the ploy to pay off as Shinji Okazaki became the sixth Japanese player to score in the Champions’ League. To give Leicester the lead.
- If you have any magic beans and you want to sell them – Dion Cools is your man. Marc Albrighton turn in the box was nice but the Brugge defender bought it way too easily to concede the penalty which Riyad Mahrez slotted home with minimum fuss to make it 2-0.
- Brugge’s goal, seven minutes after the break meant Leicester’s fantastic shut-out record was finally ended after 412 minutes. But as Sevilla’s defence had been breached on the stroke of half-time the Foxes had the consolation of knowing they were the last team in the group stages to finally succumb.
- To be fair to Jose Izquierdo it was almost an HONOUR to concede a goal of such quality. The Bruges frontman would have had every scout in Europe taking note of his sizzling pace and even hotter finish!
- Talking of hot finishes ….. all Leicester’s Premier League uncertainty came back to haunt them once that goal went in. It was backs to the wall time in a game which they appeared to have sewn up.
- Impressively Claudio Ranieri remained the calmest person inside the King Power.
- Meawhile, Robert Huth could have a career in boxing when he hangs up his boots. Timmy Simons smacked the big German’s head with a ferocious shot as Brugge turned the screw late on. But Huth proved he doesn’t have a glass jaw and didn’t flinch an inch.
- Riyad Nahrez remains an enigma this season. Four goals in five Champions League games yet he has only two penalties to show in the Premier League this term – he started well but faded and was eventually replaced as Ranieri went for the blistering pace of Schlupp and Gray.
DREAM TEAM RATINGS
Leicester: Zieler 6, Simpson 6, Fuchs 7, Morgan 6, Huth 6, Mahrez 7 (Schlupp 68, 6), Drinkwater 6, King 6, Albrighton 7 (Amartey 78, 6), Vardy 6, Okazaki 7 (Gray 68, 6)
Subs not used: Hamer, Hernandez, Musa, Ulloa
Goals: Okazaki (5), Mahrez (30)
Club Brugge: Butelle 7, Mechele 7, Poulain 6, Simons 6, Cools 6, Pina 6 (Limbombe 61, 6), Claudemir 6 (Moraes Ferreira da Silva 84, 5), De Bock 6 (Van Rhijn 71, 6), Vossen 6, Izquierdo 7, Vanaken 7
Subs not used: Bruzzese, Gedoz da Conceicao, Denswil, Bolingoli Mbombo
Goal: Izquierdo 52
WHAT THEY SAID
Leicester captain Wes Morgan: "For a club like Leicester City to finish top of our Champions League group is an amazing achievement.
"It has been better than we could have imagined."