Super Eagles striker Kelechi Iheanacho starred as Leicester City fought from behind to shock Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 in manager Antonio Conte’s first match in the dugout after a recent gallbladder operation.
Iheanacho coming off the back of an impressive performance against Aston Villa where he scored once and assisted twice continued his fine form, as he scored a brilliant goal and provided an assist against Spurs on Saturday afternoon.
Nampalys Mendy’s first goal in more than six years inspired Leicester to the comeback win after Rodrigo Bentancur briefly gave Spurs the lead.
James Maddison and Harvey Barnes also netted for the hosts as Leicester scored four for the second straight game.
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Spurs were on top but it took just 11 minutes for the Foxes to turn the game. They had barely threatened but levelled through an unlikely source.
Mendy had not scored in his previous 108 Leicester appearances after joining in 2016 but when Bentancur’s header reached the midfielder on the edge of the box he unleashed an angled rocket which flew past Fraser Forster.
KELECHIIIIIIII!!! 🇳🇬 😃 🇳🇬 😃#LEITOT pic.twitter.com/kRjJbBexjn
— Leicester City (@LCFC) February 11, 2023
Two minutes later, it got better for the hosts and captain for the day Maddison. Ben Davies’ loose pass was cleared by Wout Faes to Iheanacho, who turned and found the unmarked Maddison to sweep in his ninth goal of the season.
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Leicester was suddenly rampant and Forster kept out Iheanacho as the Spurs defense imploded.
It was a game littered with errors and Spurs added another gaffe to the catalogue when the Foxes went 3-1 up in first-half injury time.
Harry Souttar launched a clearance upfield and Iheanacho was given too much space to run at Eric Dier. He checked inside to the edge of the area, dummied and then found the bottom corner.
Ragged Tottenham hardly improved after the break and Forster needed to save from Barnes.
With 20 minutes remaining, the visitors needed VAR to rescue them when Barnes converted Iheanacho’s pass. But there was no stopping the winger adding a fourth and sealing victory 11 minutes later.
The generous Tottenham defense first allowed Maddison to advance and slip Barnes in and he turned and beat Forster from 20 yards.
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