Leicester City have been pretty in luck this far in Emirates FA Cup and were once again drawn against a League One outfit in the 4th Round tie. They failed to defeat Fleetwood Town in the previous round away from home but secured a comfortable win in the rematch at King Power Stadium courtesy a Kelechi Iheanacho brace. They, however, were looking for a result in the first attempt and eventually secured a comfortable 5-1 win against third-tier side Peterborough United FC at London Road Stadium.
Iheanacho, despite his poor league run, scored a brace yet again and helped the Foxes to proceed through to the next round with ease. But the afternoon will be worth-remembering for the Leicester fans as their new signing Fousseni Diabate also netted twice to script a dream debut.
Below are the Leicester City players rated for their comprehensive win against Peterborough United.
Ben Hamer: 6
Hamer and Eldin Jakupovic have been rotated in cup games for Leicester City and it was Hamer’s turn to feature in the Fourth Round tie. The Englishman, however, looked nervy at times and could have done better when the Posh pulled one back in the second half when Andrew Hughes squeezed his first-time strike through his legs.
Danny Simpson: 6.5
Simpson returned to the starting lineup after a few weeks of absence due to injury and delivered a balanced display. Although he lost a few duels, the Englishman was good going forward, whipped in a couple of crosses and did well to link up well with Diabate upfront.
Yohan Benalouane: 7.5
Was handed a rare start in the heart of Leicester defence. He looked a little nervy while defending set-pieces and long balls but impressed with his passing game and intercepting skills.
Harry Maguire: 7.5
Maguire was solid defensively, pulled off crucial blocks, tackles, interceptions and won a few duels when the hosts were pushing hard to stage a comeback in the early minutes of the second half.
Christian Fuchs: 8
Fuchs looked a little anxious initially but uplifted his game with time and set the ball up perfectly with a sublime cross for Iheanacho who scored his second and earned his side a 3-0 lead within 30 minutes into the game.
Adrien Silva: 8.5
Silva worked hard in the middle of the park, impressed with his passing skills, his through balls were often creating trouble in a depleted Posh backline one of which allowed Diabate to score within 10 minutes of his Leicester debut. Was dispossessed once but recovered expertly to make up for his error.
Vicente Iborra: 7.5
Iborra too was combative, breaking opponent’s moves in the middle of the park and creating moves from deep down the midfield. He, however, was taken off midway in the second half and was replaced by Marc Albrighton.
Harvey Barnes: 6.5
The youngster, recalled from his loan at Barnsley earlier this month, was handed a start as a midfield attacker. He tried his best to leave a mark before being taken off to be replaced by Wilfred Ndidi.
Fousseni Diabate: 9.5
A dream debut for the Malian wingman who completed a €2 mil switch from Ligue 2 side Gazélec Ajaccio. He toe-poked into the bottom left corner in early minutes and scored again in the second half to bag a double. Also played his part in Ndidi’s goal in closing minutes but could not grab a hat-trick due to his missed opportunities. However, the promises he showed is encouraging and a big sigh of relief for manager Claude Puel for the remainder of the campaign.
Kelechi Iheanacho: 9
Continues his impressive cup run and scored a brace within thirty minutes into the game. Missed a few opportunities to score even more and earned cheers from the travelling fans before being replaced by Ben Chilwell late in the game.
Substitutes
Wilfred Ndidi: 8
Played some impressive passes and got a goal in the closing seconds of the game when his thumping strike beat the Peterborough custodian Jonathan Bond.
Marc Albrighton: 7
Was impressive with his forward runs and strikes towards the goal. Impressed with his dribbling, crosses and movements in and around the opponent’s box.
Ben Chilwell: NA
Played too little to warrant a rating.
