West Bromwich Albion were made to rue countless missed chances as clinical Championship title chasers Leicester City ran out 2-1 victors in a frantic Saturday encounter at the King Power Stadium. The Baggies fluffed hoards of clear-cut opportunities, not helped by a hat-trick of goalline clearances from Foxes right-back Hamza Choudhury, as they failed to claim what would’ve been a deserved away points haul. Wilfred Ndidi’s 22nd-minute rebound and Jamie Vardy’s second-half header were enough to undo Albion, who could only respond with one goal from captain Jed Wallace.
The visitors set a strong intensity from the off and should have had two or three in the opening quarter of an hour. The immediate high press nearly paid off in the second minute as Alex Mowatt intercepted a loose pass in the final third and fed Okay Yokuslu. The Turk had plenty of space to pick out a corner but failed, soaring his 15-yard-out effort over the crossbar.
Skipper Jed Wallace made an outstanding 30-yard run down the right with a clever touch around Woet Foes before a cut-back to Mikey Johnston. The Celtic loanee, patient in the box, didn’t do anything wrong as he struck on target but Choudhury did excellently to clear away between the sticks. Johnston had two more chances shortly after with terrific dribbles inside but Mads Hermansen saved his first shot and the second sailed narrowly over.
Leicester made West Brom regret their missed early sighters as the hosts opened the scoring through Ndidi in the 23rd minute. Vardy got in between Kyle Bartley and Cedric Kipre to head from a Woet Faes cross, forcing a superb stop from Alex Palmer. Although a great save, the ball was only parried out a few inches, giving Ndidi a near-open goal to fire into the roof of the net on the rebound.
The Foxes asserted dominance in possession for the rest of the first period and Albion’s breakaways on the transition were rare. Leicester were awarded a controversial penalty in the 44th minute, but the usually clinical Vardy struck the left post from the spot. It felt as if justice had been served as referee Thomas Bramall mistook where the foul had taken place; Yokuslu tripped Vardy running through on goal but the contact was made just outside the area, with the striker then falling into the box.
West Brom incredibly didn’t score an equaliser after the interval as a remarkable 51st minute played out at the King Power. Several shots were saved or blocked in rapid succession, the first from M’Vila blocked on the line by Choudhury after a Johnston dummy. Diangana followed up but saw his shot saved at point-blank range before a ricochet back off the attacker for Choudhury - again - to clear off the line with his head.
The resultant corner caused further chaos as Kipre nodded the ball onto the crossbar and it fell to Diangana but the winger couldn’t get it out of his feet. Just a few phases of play later, it was time for the Congolese to have another go but he fluffed his lines. Darnell Furlong’s low cross made it through a crowd of bodies but Diangana inexcusably directed his shot wide of the left woodwork. Albion then peppered Leicester’s goal once more, Furlong seeing an attempt deflected off Faes and behind.
After somehow not scoring, West Brom conceded for the second time. It was déjà vu in the 64th minute as Leicester made the visitors pay for their lack of clinical edge, Vardy making up for his missed penalty with a close-range header beyond Palmer. Abdul Fatawu’s pinpoint cross was Albion’s undoing and Furlong was far too easily outjumped by Vardy – a costly goal to concede after so many opportunities to level.
Carlos Corberan turned to the bench to revamp his midfield in the 69th minute, replacing M’Vila, Yokuslu and Mowatt with Nathaniel Chalobah, John Swift and Matt Phillips. The re-energisation seemed to work as West Brom gave themselves a fighting chance with a quarter of an hour to go, skipper Wallace slotting cooly beyond Hermansen to make it 2-1. The finish was superb but credit has to go to Kipre for his outstanding assist, an inch-perfect through ball from deep.
Ultimately, it was too little too late from West Brom. It could - and probably should - have been a free-scoring victory on the road but a lack of composure culminated with Choudhury’s expert defensive work meant Corberan’s men fell short. Nonetheless, there are certainly plenty of positives to go away with as Albion went toe-to-toe with - and more - with the Championship’s best team.
Here’s how Birmingham World reporter Charlie Haffenden rated the starting West Brom players out of 10.
1. Alex Palmer - 6
Denied Vardy a headed goal with a terrific diving stop but saw Ndidi score on the rebound. Made necessary claims from set pieces and commanded his six-yard box well but struggled a little with his distribution.
2. Darnell Furlong - 6
Got heavily involved in attacks in the second half, teeing up Diangana with one brilliant low cross and narrowly missing with a deflected shot of his own. Put in some decent tackles on Mavididi but was often caught out of position and lost possession cheaply a few times. Outjumped by Vardy for Leicester’s second.
3. Cedric Kipre - 8
Delivered the incredible assist for Wallace’s goal, floating the ball between the Leicester centre-halves. Went close to scoring himself as an earlier header bounced off the crossbar. Put in a top sliding block to stop Vardy from scoring in the 20th minute but could’ve done better in reacting to stop Ndidi’s goal.
4. Kyle Bartley - 5
Lost his man, Vardy, in the immediate lead-up to Ndidi’s opener and, just like Kipre, should’ve reacted quicker to clear away the rebound. Otherwise fairly solid and a threat from set pieces.