West Bromwich Albion vs Leicester City. Premier League.
The Hawthorns.
Report and highlights as West Brom given a rude awakening to life back at the top table
Sunday 13 September 2020 22:21, UK
A Timothy Castagne debut goal and two Jamie Vardy penalties helped Leicester to beat West Brom 3-0 on Sunday.
Leicester headed into the new season having dropped out of the top four and a Champions League qualification position in the final week of season - a position they had occupied since September 2019.
However, there was no signs of a hangover as Castagne - a £21.5million signing from Atalanta - headed home (56) before two Vardy penalties (74) and (84) wrapped up the points.
Last season's Golden Boot winner has now scored six times in five appearances at The Hawthorns.
It was a toothless start to life back in the Premier League for the Baggies, who faded badly after a bright start and only registered one shot on goal in the second half.
Slaven Bilic threw a bit of a tactical curve ball on his return to Premier League football by starting with a back three despite playing almost all of last season with a back four. It took Leicester 30 minutes to settle into any sort of pattern with Vardy enjoying just three touches of the ball during that period.
Billic's side looked comfortable without causing too many issues for the makeshift centre-back duo of Wilfred Ndidi and Caglar Soyuncu.
With new signing Castagne pushing higher and Harvey Barnes supporting Vardy, the Foxes had more bite as the half progressed. Barnes really should have done better from close range on 31 minutes when denied by Sam Johnstone and he fluffed another good opening from inside the box five minutes later.
Brendan Rodgers will have been pleased to see Leicester maintain their control of the match after the break. His wing-backs were now pinning the opposition back and it was no surprise to see that method of attack result in the opening goal.
James Justin - vulnerable defensively but a threat going forward - found the overlapping run of Dennis Praet down the left. He stood up his cross and it was met by a determined header from Castagne, who showed great adventure to get into the box. The goal sucked any confidence left in West Brom's veins as it was one-way traffic towards their goal from that moment on.
An offside flag denied Ayoze Perez after Barnes' strike deflected off an offside Vardy into his team-mate's path before Youri Tielemans struck an effort from 30 yards that was tipped over the bar by Johnstone. It was soon 2-0 though as Vardy's pace won Leicester a penalty.
Barnes flew down the left wing and while eyes were on him, referee Anthony Taylor did well to spot Vardy being held back in the box by Kyle Bartley. The infringement was given and Vardy curled home from the spot.
He was soon on the tail of Salah, who scored an opening day hat-trick against Leeds, when Dara O'Shea clumsily took down Justin the box and Leicester's striker booted home his second spot-kick of the afternoon.
Ben who? Any fears that Leicester may struggle without flying full-back Ben Chilwell have been eased with an impressive showing on debut by the Belgian. Playing down the right, but equally as equipped to play on the left - a ploy likely to be seen when Ricardo Pereira returns - he showed tremendous energy and quality on the ball throughout. His goal was a sign of his attacking instincts in and around the box too.
Sky Sports' Andy Hinchcliffe said: "It's been a weekend for the debutants and Timothy Castagne was another to shine, clearly he's a very good player.
"It's not always easy to acclimatise to the Premier League but he looks absolutely built to play in this division and for this team that like to push their full-backs on. He looks perfect for Brendan Rodgers and you can see why he's signed him."
On Castagne's man-of-the-match display, Vardy told Sky Sports: "He's been brilliant. He's only been with us a couple of days and we've seen with his performance he's got loads of qualities. For his goal to come in at the back post when he's technically playing right back is brilliant for him. He gets his goal and it's thoroughly deserved."
Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers: "We were excellent by the end, the first half was slow. It was very hot today and our tempo was slow. As the half wore on and into the second half we were dominant. Everything that is good about our game, we pressed well and attacked well. It was a good win.
"We finished in a really good position last year - some tried to talk it down as failure. We didn't finish how we wanted but to finish where we did was great. It's a new season, new motivation and it's exciting to attack the Premier League and European football."
West Brom boss Slaven Bilic said: "I was really pleased with the way we played up until their goal.
"I told the guys I was very disappointed with the results but the thing I was most disappointed with was our reaction after the goal.
"They were a bit sharper for the third goal, the penalty, all of it looks stoppable. Apart from the first goal it was a good performance with and without the ball, as a team.
"I'm very disappointed with the result but the biggest disappointment was our reaction after the goal. Our mentality was not the same."
The Baggies host Harrogate Town on Wednesday in the Carabao Cup, live on Sky Sports at 6pm, before travelling to Everton next Saturday lunchtime in the Premier League. Meanwhile, Leicester take on Burnley at 7pm next Saturday.
