Brentford stormed back to claim a point at the King Power Stadium as Leicester City lost a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw with the Bees on Sunday.
Timothy Castagne and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall staked the Foxes to a 2-0 lead after 46 minutes, but Ivan Toney and Joshua Dasilva scored in the final half-hour to earn Thomas Frank’s men a point.
WATCH LEICESTER CITY vs BRENTFORD FULL MATCH REPLAY STREAM
Jamie Vardy and James Maddison have been mentioned as possible summer exits but both recorded assists and Maddison was was particularly bright in the draw.
Dasilva was good off the bench in securing a result for the Bees, the equalizer coming in the 86th minute.
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What we learned from Leicester City vs Brentford
Leicester’s midfield leads the way
Castagne put Leicester in front off a corner kick, racing to the front post to meet James Maddison’s service and put an unmarked header past David Raya. And Dewsbury-Hall’s made a habit of scoring beautiful goals, but there’s more to this story.
Dewsbury-Hall’s industrious midfield work and Maddison’s almost-unrivaled creativity have two things in common: Incredible confidence. Both men look prepared to pull off any feat, however improbable or long-bursting, at any time.
Bees keep buzzing, never play dead
Brentford was far from its best in the opening 45 minutes but the Bees have spent their Premier League existence defying the scoreboard (if, in fact, they go behind).
Thomas Frank should be given lots of credit for the belief he’s instilled in the second-year club, who was without some very good players and still took a quality point from a proven opponent.
Tactical focus
Perhaps this is just down to the nature of Leicester’s 1-0 (and then 2-0 lead), but the Foxes could not keep up their 62% possession and 8-2 advantage in shot attempts in the second half.
It seemed like Leicester might waltz to a controlling win when Dewsbury-Hall snapped the Foxes into a two-goal advantage right out of halftime, but it instead seemed to be the final poke that awakened the bee hive, so to speak, and the Bees found possession and really took hold of the game after Ben Mee and Mathias Jensen were removed for Dasilva and Keane Lewis-Potter.
The attack-favoring moves made all the difference.
Stars of the show
Kiernan Dewsbury Hall: A spectacular goal but he would’ve been a star even without it and despite coming off the pitch with 17 minutes to go (and, perhaps not coincidentally, with the Foxes leading 2-1).
James Maddison: All over the pitch with six shot attempts and five key passes. Newcastle will only want to bid higher for the playmaker.
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Ivan Toney: For the goal alone. Wow.
Josh Dasilva: Have to feel good for the sub after he missed an entire Premier League campaign.
What’s next?
Leicester City will test itself against Arsenal in North London at 10am ET Saturday, while the Bees will host Manchester United at 12:30pm ET that day.
