Brentford 1-2 Leicester: James Maddison's first goal since February gives Foxes win in London

James Maddison ended an eight-month scoring drought to earn Leicester back-to-back league wins with a 2-1 victory at Brentford.

The midfielder, whose last goal came against Aston Villa on February 21, tapped in Patson Daka's square ball in what was something of a smash-and-grab victory for Brendan Rodgers' team.

They held a half-time lead in west London despite posting an xG of just 0.05 courtesy of a goal-of-the-season contender from Youri Tielemans, whose first-time piledriver from 25 yards beat a helpless David Raya 14 minutes in.

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Mathias 'Zanka' Jorgensen, starting only his third league game for Brentford, glanced in a deserved equaliser from Mathias Jensen's corner on the hour before the Bees stepped up their search for a winner.

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But a counter-attack of quality saw Tielemans send half-time substitute Daka away and he teed up Maddison for a simple finish to claim victory for the visitors, as Leicester jumped above their hosts and into ninth.

Evans inspires Leicester as Bees lack sting

Leicester's inconsistency has been the main driver behind their early-season woes and for much of the game in west London they looked a shadow of the side who swept aside Manchester United last weekend. They could have been behind inside six minutes with both Christian Norgaard and Pontus Jansson going close, before Ivan Toney's close-range finish was ruled out for an earlier offside.

Before the interval, they managed only a single touch inside the Brentford box but did not need any to take the lead. Maddison's free-kick was nodded clear by Rico Henry to Tielemans, whose perfect 25-yard volley was past Raya and into the top corner before he knew it.

Leicester's limited quality on the ball was countered by an increasingly comfortable defensive performance, with Kasper Schmeichel's save to turn Toney's header over the bar their closest brush with conceding an equaliser.

Brentford took a while to build up any second-half momentum but when they did, the Foxes' backline was quickly breached. Jensen's corner from the left was turned home by Zanka's glancing header. He may have been attempting a flick-on, but he was certainly not complaining scoring against Leicester in his second consecutive appearance against them to level up.

Just as Brentford began to push for another, and moments after Jonny Evans bundled a Jansson shot behind for a Bees corner, a sucker-punch on the break caught them cold.

Schmeichel bowled the ball out to Kelechi Iheanacho on the half-way line and from his lay-off, Tielemans' first-time through-ball gave Daka a clear route to goal. With Raya closing him down, he squared for Maddison to end a run of more than 1,000 minutes without a goal to restore the Foxes' lead.

Brentford continued to press but with an Evans-inspired Leicester more resolute defensively than has been seen for much of this season, even seven minutes of added time could not produce a way through for the hosts, who fell to back-to-back home defeats for the first time in three years.

What the managers said...

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Brentford head coach Thomas Frank: "We deserved three points. We battered them for the first 45 minutes, there were only one team in the game.

"I'm proud of the performance and the boys, and although we weren't as dominant after half-time, and the only thing I can blame us for is the second goal. We have to do better in terms of recovery and getting back in, but if we can replicate this game again and again, we'd win it seven times out of 10."

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Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers: "It was a brilliant win. Coming back from Moscow and coming back late, you can miss your freshness and energy, but it was all about our mentality.

"This game really tests your resilience, you've seen how Brentford have played this season. For us to come here and get the three points is a big win for us. I'm so happy for the players, because they had to dig deep."

Man of the match - Youri Tielemans

As well as completing more passes than any of his team-mates (40) and more in the Brentford half (31), Tielemans played the key role in Leicester's winning goal with his ball forward to Daka, and scored the opener with his stunning strike out of nowhere.

Match stats

• Leicester have won each of their last six away matches against Brentford in all competitions, only the second time they have won 6+ consecutive away games against an opponent after a seven-game winning run at Leyton Orient between 1925 and 1980.
• Brentford have lost consecutive home league matches for the first time since losing three in a row in November/December 2018.
• Leicester City's last nine away Premier League wins has seen them score exactly two goals, with seven of those nine ending 2-1, including their last five wins on the road.
• Leicester's James Maddison ended a run of 1,043 Premier League minutes without a league goal, netting his first goal since February against Aston Villa.
• No Premier League player has more goals from outside the box in all competitions in 2021 than Leicester midfielder Youri Tielemans (four), with the Belgian scoring in consecutive Premier League appearances for the first time since October 2019.
• Two of Zanka's four Premier League goals have been scored against Leicester - his first in the competition in September 2018 when he played for Huddersfield Town, and today's goal for Brentford. Zanka has ended on the losing side in all four Premier League matches when he's found the net, the worst record of any player in Premier League history.
• Leicester striker Jamie Vardy was substituted at half-time, only the third time he's ever come off at the break after starting the match in the Premier League - the other two occasions were away at Manchester United in 2014-15 and 2016-17. Vardy only managed six touches in this game and none in the opposition box.

What's next?

Brentford travel to Stoke in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night; kick-off at 7.45pm.

On the same evening Leicester host Brighton in their fourth-round tie at the King Power Stadium; kick-off at 7.45pm.

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