FC Zorya 1-0 Leicester: Caglar Soyuncu limps off as Foxes miss opportunity to seal top spot
Report as Ricardo Pereira, Caglar Soyuncu and Wilfred Ndidi return from injury but Soyuncu limps off after 16 minutes with a recurrence of groin issue; Leicester now four games without a win in all competitions
Thursday 3 December 2020 22:16, UK
Leicester City missed the chance to guarantee top spot in Europa League Group G after Allahyar Sayyadmanesh’s late winner handed Zorya Luhansk a 1-0 victory.
Brendan Rodgers welcomed back Ricardo Pereira, Caglar Soyuncu and Wilfred Ndidi from injury, although Soyuncu's return only lasted 16 minutes as he limped off with a recurrence of a groin issue. There was better news for Ricardo and Ndidi, who both came through 45 and 55 minutes of action with no issues.
Already qualified but needing a win to top the group, the Foxes lacked creativity throughout and didn't register a shot on target until 78 minutes. They were punished for their wastefulness by Sayyadmanesh with six minutes to play as he handed the Ukrainians victory.
The result leaves Leicester, who are now four games without a win across all competitions, with work to do in order to top Group G on the final matchday against AEK Athens as they need to at lest match Braga's result at the King Power next Thursday.
How the Foxes floundered in Ukraine…
With Ricardo returning, Leicester switched back to the 4-4-2 formation that stood them in such good stead last season but it was all Zorya in the early stages.
Ricardo wasn't being given much support from Cengiz Under and he was left isolated as Vladyslav Kochergin tested Danny Ward with a stinging effort on four minutes.
Leicester were having to do plenty of defending and perhaps the overworked nature was the reason for Soyuncu's injury on 16 minutes. It looked a simple enough piece of defending but he immediately signalled to the bench holding his groin and Wesley Fofana replaced him.
Leicester settled into a better rhythm as the half wore on with Harvey Barnes finding some good positions. His pass sent Under away on goal with 30 minutes gone but his finished curled a few inches wide of goal.
Ricardo's return lasted 45 minutes as Luke Thomas replaced him at the break.
Vladlen Yurchenko showcased the Ukrainians threat a few minutes after the restart when meeting a cross from 15 yards with a thumping header that cannoned back off the top of the crossbar.
Ndidi's impressive night came to an end on 55 minutes - a planned substitution from Rodgers, who will have been happy with his midfielder but wanted more from his creative players. It took until 78 minutes for Leicester to register a shot on target as Kelechi Iheanacho tested Nikola Vasilj from 20 yards and James Maddison was also denied from the rebound.
With Leicester dominating the ball in the closing stages, it was hard to see them losing the game but Zorya hit them with a sucker punch.
Sayyadmanesh, fresh off the bench, slid in at the back post to score after losing the attention of Fofana, who had switched off.
There was almost a late twist in stoppage time when Under pulled out a fantastic snapshot from 25 yards that Vasilj palmed away in flamboyant style.
Man of the match: Wilfred Ndidi
While Soyuncu and Ricardo eased their way back in, Ndidi slotted back in like he'd never been away. A perfect example was on 25 minutes when breaking up a dangerous attack with a typically robust but fair challenge in midfield. Not much got past the midfield general in his 55 minutes of action. Rodgers must be tempted to throw him in from the start against Sheffield United, live on Sky Sports on Super Sunday.
Rodgers defends Soyuncu selection
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers said: "It [Soyuncu's injury] is just in around his groin. It was the moment for him to come in. He went through all the protocols with the medical team and was fine.
"He's been training for quite a long period. This was a chance to put him in. He was motivated and ready to play.
"But it looks like he overstretched his groin a touch and he felt a twinge, so we'll need to analyse that when we get back on Friday.
"I thought we were very unfortunate to lose the game. We had a lot of good moments and their goalkeeper made some good saves. I'm so disappointed for the players because they put so much into it. They didn't deserve to lose.
Live Renault Super Sunday
"There were some real moments of quality and as the game wore on I thought we looked like we would score.
"But congratulations to Zorya. There was more on it for us and we wanted to win and I thought we showed a great desire to do that.
"We had players coming back from injury so that was a positive for us. We knew what tonight was in terms of getting game time into the legs of players who needed it."
Opta stats
- Zorya Luhansk enjoyed their first-ever victory against English opposition (W1 D0 L3), courtesy of their first-ever goal against an English side.
- Leicester have registered just two clean sheets in their last 14 away games in all competitions.
- Zorya Luhansk have enjoyed consecutive victories in European competition for the first time since August 2019.
- Leicester are without a win in four games in all competitions (D1 L3) after winning each of their six before that.
What's next?
Leicester are back in action on Sunday afternoon with a trip to basement boys Sheffield United, live on Sky Sports.
