Leicester City 2 (Iheanacho PEN 37, Castagne 75) Wolves 1 (Cunha 13)
Wolves found themselves defeated for the first time in three Premier League outings as Julen Lopetegui’s men saw Leicester City come from behind to take all three points at the King Power Stadium.
The contest looked to be going the way of the visitors in the first-half as Wolves dominated much of the ball and found the breakthrough when Matheus Cunha guided his second goal of the season into the corner of the Leicester goal.
But the hosts struck back either side of the break. After Jose Sa had fouled Jamie Vardy in the penalty area, Kelechi Iheanacho stepped up from the spot to get the Foxes back on level terms, before Timothy Castagne scored the winner with 15 minutes remaining.
After naming an unchanged line-up for just the second time as the Wolves head coach maintained the faith in the side which started in the 2-0 win against Brentford seven days previously, and he was rewarded with a bright start by his players.
Although they were put under early pressure from a Leicester side who were fighting to get out of the relegation zone, the Wolves defence stood strong, which saw Toti clear what looked like a certain goal from Tete away from danger.
After a few chances from outside the box, including an effort from Craig Dawson which curled high and wide of Daniel Iversen’s goal before Pablo Sarabia dragged his shot the wrong side of the post, the men in the grey ‘arctic ice’ shirts took the lead.
Mario Lemina pounced on the play in the centre of the park before laying up Cunha outside the penalty area, and the Brazilian striker took a touch before firing an unstoppable lowly driven effort into the bottom left corner of the net.
The visitors were the dominant side throughout the first-half and both Cunha and Dawson could have added a second, but the former saw Iversen make a smart save from a tight angle, before the defender’s powerful shot was deflected away from goal.
Despite Wolves’ control on the opening 45 minutes, Leicester went into the break all square when Sa upended Vardy in the penalty area after the England forward had tried to round the Portuguese keeper.
With Vardy unable to shrug off the affects of the foul, the penalty responsibilities fell the way of Iheanacho, who dispatched the spot kick calmly – directing the ball to Sa’s right and sending the keeper the wrong way.
The hosts were given a boost by their goal and looked the more threatening side in the final five minutes of the first-half but Wolves were able to hold on to the break.
Half-time | Leicester 1-1 Wolves
The start of the second-half followed much of the same pattern as the final moments of the first, despite Wolves making a change at the break which saw Ruben Neves return from his two-match suspension to replace Lemina.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, a half-time change for the Foxes, found himself in space outside the Wolves box, but could only fire his shot across goal wide of the post, while the midfielder missed a guilt-edged chance minutes later as he blazed an effort over the crossbar from six yards out after Sa had rebounded Patson Daka’s shot back into the penalty area.
Neves could have marked his return with a goal just after the hour mark. He lined up from a free-kick which was awarded following a Joao Gomes drive through the heart of the Leicester midfield, but the Portuguese’s curling effort was just over the bar.
Trying to make up for his slip-up which led to the Leicester goal, Sa was doing all he could to keep his side in the contest, as the keeper made a few saves in succession to deny the hosts, with the best of those being a stunning stop from point-blank range to palm away a goal-bound effort.
However, there was nothing the keeper could do to stop his side from going behind with just 15 minutes remaining on the clock as Castagne finished off a neat period of play by the hosts as he found himself unmarked at the far post to fire past the Portuguese.
Wolves attempted to hit back at the Foxes, but Toti could not find the net with a header from a tight angle, while Hwang got up well in the Leicester box, but his looping header was not powerful enough to beat Iversen.
The closest Wolves came to a second was through a Neves set-piece. The captain’s curling effort from the edge of the penalty area looked to be destined for the top corner, but Iversen was able to get a strong hand to the ball to turn it over his crossbar.
But it wasn’t to be for Lopetegui’s men, who tasted a first defeat in three Premier League matches and are still looking for a win on the road at Leicester since their promotion back to the top-flight in 2018.
Full-time | Leicester 2-1 Wolves
Leicester | Iversen, Castagne, Soyuncu, Faes, Kristiansen, Soumare, Tielemans (Ndidi 67), Tete (Praet 77), Iheanacho (Mendy 85), Daka, Vardy (Dewsbury-Hall 46).
Unused subs | Ward, Souttar, Amartey, Thomas, Marcal-Madivadua.
Wolves | Sa, Semedo, Dawson, Kilman, Toti (Neto 84), J. Gomes, Lemina (Neves 46), Nunes (Podence 81), Sarabia (Hwang 58), Cunha, Costa (Moutinho 58).
Unused subs | Bentley, Bueno, Collins, A. Traore.
Referee | Andrew Madley
