Leicester City player ratings v Southampton as attacker overcomes jeers to impress

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Jamie Vardy netted his 199th Leicester City goal on his penultimate King Power Stadium outing to end the club’s long drought and help clinch a rare victory for Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Playing at home for the first time since he announced he would be leaving City, the talismanic striker struck brilliantly to net the club’s first league goal in 10 home matches.

Jordan Ayew followed it up before the break and City professionally saw out the win, their first since January, while also keeping their first clean sheet since October.

Beating a woefully-poor Southampton side means City will finish at least 19th this season.

Five changes were made by City, with four expected amid a raft of new injuries. The fifth saw Oliver Skipp handed his first start since December, but even that wasn’t too startling after Boubakary Soumare’s display at Wolves.

What was a surprise was the set-up. Perhaps to match up with Southampton, City went for a five-at-the-back shape, with Kasey McAteer and Luke Thomas as wing-backs.

The sides matched each other’s systems and matched each other for their low quality in a desperately-poor first 15 minutes, one that showed why these are the bottom two.

The activity was in the stands, where both sets of fans jokingly chanted over their team’s relegation, and jeered their own players, Wout Faes and Ayew targeted by the home crowd.

Fans in the Kop then unfurled a banner that read ‘Top, Rudkin, what’s so funny?’ in reference to a viral image of the chairman and director of football smiling in the stands as City were relegated against Liverpool a fortnight ago.

But just as chants targeting Rudkin and the board started up, City scored. Of course it was Vardy.

Intuitive link-up between Thomas and Bilal El Khannouss on the left set the Moroccan free and he crossed low for Vardy to strike sweetly high into the net.

It was City goal 199 for the number nine and came after 826 minutes and 88 shots of City failing to find the net at the King Power Stadium.

Then came a bizarre delay to the game. Ayew innocuously clipped referee David Webb with his shoulder, but it was enough to knock over the official, who required treatment and eventually to be replaced by the fourth official.

But after a 12-minute delay, City picked up where they left off. El Khannouss’s quick feet won a free-kick 20 yards out, and while Ayew blasted the first effort into the wall, he then crisply struck the rebound through the bodies and into the bottom corner.

Southampton had the ball in the net early in the second period, but Mateus Fernandes was rightly flagged offside after he bundled in a rebound.

And besides that, there was very little goalmouth activity in what was a tepid half of football. El Khannouss came closest to a City third, dragging a shot wide in a late breakaway.

But when they had to defend, City did, and that helped secure a first clean sheet under van Nistelrooy. Here’s how we scored the players.

Jakub Stolarczyk: A clean sheet! And the Pole had to make one very good save to earn it, instinctively diving to parry away Onuachu’s header. It was a strong all-round showing from Stolarczyk, who didn’t look flustered under pressure with his feet, playing calm passes even when rushed by Saints attackers. 7

James Justin: He used the space in front of him well at times, racing out of the back three with the ball to get City moving forward. He was combative too and certainly did his bit for the clean sheet. 7

Conor Coady: His more adventurous passes never found their target and he didn’t look totally comfortable when dragged wide into one-on-ones, but he read play well from a central position at times and kept the back-line organised. 6

Wout Faes: There was a wild pass across his own box early on that he got away with, but he improved after that and didn’t make any further glaring errors. Won a few headers too. 6

Kasey McAteer: When he had the opportunity to cross, he delivered dangerously. But in the build-up, there was a real lack of quality and he lost the ball often. As always, he chased hard, his energy at the top end making a real difference. 6

Wilfred Ndidi: He played with energy and everything he had to do he did well, but there wasn’t a lot for him to get his teeth into, so poor were Southampton. 6

Oliver Skipp: There was a really poor pass early on that brought mass groans, but he recovered quickly and when he started to play more instinctively, he looked better, moving the ball forward with precision and intent. He raced back to win the ball too, although still commits too many fouls. 7

Luke Thomas: He played on the front foot, trying to intercept high up the pitch, while he linked terrifically with El Khannouss, the duo playing intuitively. He was quieter in the second half, but wasn’t troubled defensively. 7

Jordan Ayew: He overcame a smattering of pre-match jeers from the City fans to produce a really good performance. He held up the ball well and turned cutely to get City moving forward, while producing a crisp strike to find the net. 7

Bilal El Khannouss: City’s best player once again. He was at heart of both goals, linking play well and then crossing nearly to set up Vardy’s finish before dancing past defenders to win the free-kick for the second. His footwork was great all afternoon, but he’ll be disappointed to have scuffed his late chance. 8

Jamie Vardy: It was such a sweet finish for goal 199, Vardy connecting really cleanly to give City the goal they desperately needed. He wasn’t involved too much, other than to nearly get his double-ton with a free-kick saved by Ramsdale. 7

Jeremy Monga: He looked really confident, attacking his full-back whenever he could, showing off those quick feet, passing tidily, and helping out in defence. 7

Boubakary Soumare: He barely touched the ball during his few minutes on the pitch. N/A

Jake Evans: Busted a gut to get up in support in a late breakaway, but couldn’t be found by Daka. N/A

Patson Daka: Fell over to laughs from the stands early on, and he will get stick for not finding Evans with the breakaway, but it was well-defended. N/A

Michael Golding: A debut, but not yet a chance to touch the ball for the £5m summer signing. N/A

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