Leicester City vs Wolverhampton Wanderers. Premier League.
The King Power StadiumAttendance32,015.
Raul Jimenez misses best other chance in cagey affair at King Power Stadium
Sunday 11 August 2019 19:56, UK
Leander Dendoncker saw the only goal of the game ruled out by VAR as Wolves held Leicester to a 0-0 draw in the Premier League on Sunday.
Dendoncker bundled in Joao Moutinho's corner six minutes into the second half but VAR official Jon Moss overturned the decision after spotting it had struck Willy Boly's arm in the build-up.
That decision proved one of few major incidents in a game lacking in clear-cut opportunities at the King Power Stadium.
Leicester enjoyed the majority of the play and 70 per cent of possession across the 90 minutes, but Wolves forged the best opportunity aside from their disallowed goal, when Raul Jimenez's shot was deflected into Kasper Schmeichel's arms from 10 yards.
In the opening stages, Wolves looked just as leggy as their 4,000-mile round trip to Armenia in midweek might suggest but Leicester's patient build-up rarely looked like being rewarded.
They had several shots from outside the area without ever testing Rui Patricio, but Wolves struggled to get out of their own half and invited the hosts onto them.
They did come close to shocking the King Power moments before the break though, when Ricardo Pereira's slip allowed Diogo Jota a route to goal but after reaching the area he stumbled on the ball to let Leicester off the hook.
Nuno Santo's half-time team talk had an immediate effect with Wolves a different prospect from the restart, and Jimenez should have fired them ahead but dallied on the ball to allow Caglar Soyuncu to recover and block his shot into Schmeichel's body.
The visitors did look to have taken advantage of their bright start when Dendoncker fired home a scrappy goal after Boly deflected Moutinho's corner into his path.
But a VAR review, supporting the Premier League's new rules on handball for this season, overruled the decision with replays showing Boly's outstretched arm had struck the ball into Dendoncker's path.
That disappointment seemed to knock some of the stuffing out of Wolves' resurgence and Leicester wrestled themselves back onto the front foot, but still struggled to find a route to goal.
Their closest effort was an overhead kick from Jonny Evans in the dying minutes which skimmed wide, but few were surprised when Andre Marriner's final whistle saw the game end goalless.
In just his fifth Leicester start since his summer move to the club last season, Soyuncu looked a different prospect from the player who often appeared out of his depth during his debut campaign.
Soyuncu made three tackles, won more of his aerial duels than anyone in a Leicester shirt and, even more reassuringly for Brendan Rodgers, completed 92.2 per cent of his 77 passes.
Leicester travel to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Renault Super Sunday (4.30pm).
Wolves take a four-goal lead into Thursday's home leg of their Europa League qualifier against Pyunik of Armenia, and then take on Manchester United at Molineux on the first Monday Night Football of the season, live on Sky Sports Premier League (8pm BST).
