Sports
TOTTENHAM’S mentality was questioned as assistant boss Cristian Stellini apologised for their humbling by Leicester City.
The Foxes were hugely impressive as they came from behind to win with four goals for the second time in a row.
Spurs, with boss Antonio Conte back in the dugout following a gallbladder removal, had an ideal start when Rodrigo Bentancur diverted home Victor Kristiansen’s sliced clearance.
But the resurgent Foxes netted twice in less than two and a half minutes to turn the game on its head.
First Nampalys Mendy scored only the second goal of his entire career when he crashed a first-time screamer into the top corner from the edge of the box.
Soon after, Wout Faes’ tackle on Harry Kane on halfway ricocheted into the path of Kelechi Iheanacho, who squared for James Maddison to score.
Spurs defender Eric Dier stood off Iheanacho, who stroked a shot into the bottom corner for a Leicester third before the break.
Harvey Barnes had a goal disallowed by the video assistant referee for offside but Spurs failed to learn their lesson and the winger slotted in a fourth from Maddison’s pass 10 minutes later.
“To be consistent is a long process, it’s a mental process, you have to be better mentally,” said Stellini, who spoke to the media instead of the recovering Conte.
“After we scored the goal, something changed. In the team something has to change, not individually. It’s about the desire.
“We have to apologise because our performance wasn’t good enough. We have lost too many tackles, too many duels. This comes from strength inside of you.”
To cap off a truly rotten afternoon for Spurs, they lost goalscorer Bentancur to a knee injury suffered as he tackled Mendy after an hour.
The Foxes are now 13th, six points above the relegation zone, while Tottenham remain fifth.
Foxes flying again
The World Cup killed Leicester’s momentum, with four wins out of five beforehand and four defeats in a row afterwards.
But added to a draw with Brighton and 4-2 win at Aston Villa, this result against Spurs shows that they have now recovered.
“It was a continuation of last week,” said boss Brendan Rodgers. “Some of our football was outstanding. We looked back to being really dangerous again. We could have had a couple more goals. We played with a real bravery.”
With Maddison well and truly back from injury, and several new signings, plus Iheanacho scoring for a third game in a row, Rodgers will be delighted.
It had looked set to be a bad afternoon when Kristensen diverted a corner into the path of Bentancur for the opener.
The Denmark Under-21 defender had a bright game, that one moment aside, clearing a ball off the line moments before that goal and popping up in both boxes with tackles and passes.
But then Mendy produced his unbelievable strike, his first in English football, as he ran on to Bentancur’s clearance to leather a shot past Fraser Forster.
Faes had already been booked for tackling Kane so he was taking a risk when he challenged the same player in the centre circle. But the loose ball flew about 30 yards to Iheanacho to set up Maddison for his second goal in two games.
Iheanacho put them in control before the break from Harry Souttar’s ball – and they had chances in the second half before two clever Barnes finishes, one that did not stand and then the one that did.
This must now be considered the most entertaining Premier League match-up of recent seasons. Since Leicester’s promotion in 2014, their games against Spurs have produced 76 goals, the most of any fixture in the division over that time.
To improve the party atmosphere even more, Rodgers was able to bring on right-back Ricardo Pereira for his first appearance of the season following an Achilles injury.
False dawn for Spurs?
Tottenham had appeared to turn a corner after a team meeting following their 4-2 loss at Manchester City a month ago.
Wins over Fulham, Preston and champions City came afterwards.
Conte missed that City win as he recovered in Italy and he probably wishes he was still at home after witnessing this capitulation up close.
First-choice goalkeeper Hugo Lloris missed the first of many games here, with the club captain ruled out for at least six weeks with a knee injury.
Veteran Forster started in goal, only his second league game since joining Spurs in the summer.
It was all looking so good when Bentancur scored – although they had to wait two minutes to celebrate after a long VAR check for offside.
But that was one of just four shots on target all afternoon.
Kane, their all-time top scorer, had to wait until the 90th minute for his only shot of the game. Son Heung-min, who scored a hat-trick in the reverse fixture, only had one effort himself.
Pedro Porro, their new signing at right-back, had a disappointing debut as he struggled with Barnes’ pace.
Bentancur added to an already long injury list when he was hurt in a collision with Mendy and needed oxygen – although he was able to walk off with help instead of needing the stretcher that had been sent on.
-BBC sport
KN
Tags: Leicester City Tottenham
