Liverpool’s promise, five-star response to turmoil – the 10 games that won Leicester City

Winning a title requires a level of consistency over nine months. Playing well in matches and starts is not the job of champions.

However, there were games and events throughout the season that had a greater than average impact on Leicester City’s promotion and were significant in propelling them to the top of the table. Here’s our list of the 10 key moments from the campaign.

Maresca’s idea in sight against Liverpool

For the first of these key moments, we rewind to last July. A 4-0 pre-season defeat to Liverpool looks like it could do more harm than good, denting a team’s confidence just a week before the start of the season.

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However, the first 20 minutes were so good that it did wonders for the belief in the idea. City passed the ball superbly, progressing through Liverpool’s press with confidence and quality, leading to chances.

Liverpool stepped up after that and dominated, but City hung on to the positives of the opening 20 minutes. For the players, it showed that the game plan worked, even against the best opposition. For Enzo Maresca, it showed that his players were good and intelligent enough to adapt to his style.

Late win in derby to open season

A return to the Championship set up a first meeting in 11 years with M69 neighbors City. Visiting Coventry at the King Power Stadium was always going to be a big occasion, but with it being Maresca’s first competitive game in charge and the Sky Blues’ first game since their play-off final loss, there was a lot riding on it.

Fortunately for City, they secured the three points. Doing so in dramatic circumstances, with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall scoring a late double to turn the game around, they delighted their supporters. But it was also a game that taught City a lot about themselves.

It no doubt helped Dewsbury-Hall’s confidence in a new attacking role and he thrived throughout the season. City, meanwhile, proved they can score late winners, a trend they continued in the opening months, including against Cardiff and Rotherham later in August.

But importantly, Coventry’s attack was good enough to reveal where City were weak. The Sky Blues had 20 shots and City needed Mads Hermansen to make some fine saves on his debut to stop the visitors scoring more. Maresca subsequently made a change to his defensive set-up when City were in possession, which limited counter-attacks against them for the remainder of the season. City did not concede 20 shots in a league game for the rest of the campaign.

Big win for Southampton in the possession battle

The first game since the September international break saw City face one of their expected promotion rivals for the first time. It was set up to be an intriguing battle, with Russell Martin bringing a similar brand of possession football to the south coast.

But while the Saints dominated the ball, City did much more with it. City looked a more efficient and effective team than Southampton and scored some great goals, notably the second for Kasey McAteer and the third for Wilfred Ndidi.

Then, on a fast break in the second half, Stephy Mavididi scored for a nice 4-1 score. Maresca may not have liked his team playing on the counter, but here they showed they could do it and still be the better team. The confidence from the win kicked off a nine-match winning run to establish Maresca’s men at the top.

City go up a gear to win from behind in Wales

In the seventh game of that back-to-back win at Swansea, City fell behind for the first time since losing to Hull at the start of September. But they didn’t let it affect them. There was no panic. Instead, they played their way but at an even higher tempo, creating a flurry of chances before getting back on level terms and then securing victory in the second half.

Speaking a few months ago, Dewsbury-Hall chose it as the game where everything clicked. He said: “They scored early but we didn’t change the way we played and we won 3-1. We played some really good football and even had players from the opposition say to us: “You’re one of the best teams we’ve played against at this level.”

“One: fair play, I respect someone who admits that. And two: it shows that what we’re doing is working. I like. You’re free, you play great football, you create chances and for me that’s the best way to play.”

Five-star display at Stoke after a week of turmoil

Within days of the winter, Dewsbury-Hall was targeted for a transfer by Brighton, Maresca threatened to quit the club amid grumblings in the stands, and Stefano Sensi’s transfer fell through over financial fair play concerns. City finished the January window with a lighter midfielder after Cesare Casadei was recalled by Chelsea and Wilfred Ndidi was injured.

The combination of these events could have affected the mood and quality of City’s performances, but in their first outing since February, they ran five clear of Stoke in their biggest win of the season. He put all those previous concerns behind them. City’s woes began later in February, but it could have been a lot worse.

City prove their Premier League credentials at Bournemouth

A trip to the south coast at the end of February did not impact on City’s title campaign, but it boosted belief in the group and could be the most important result of the season going forward. That’s because it showed they are more than a match for the Premier League’s mid-table teams.

Because of the changes made by both teams, Maresca wanted to downplay the significance of the 1-0 extra-time victory. But City still played their way and saw them reckon with one of the Premier League sides at the time. And the Cherries still had the first-choice defense on the field. It’s a game to remember as City begin to prepare for their return to the sea.

City beat Norwich with pressure

City enjoyed a six-month run at the top of the table from September to March, but when they lost at Bristol City on Good Friday, they found themselves in third place. A 14-point lead over the top two was gone in six weeks.

Because of their game in hand, they were still in control of their own destiny. But they went into their Easter Monday game against Norwich needing to win to stay up. And at the time, the Canaries were one of the form teams in the division.

However, City produced one of their best performances of the campaign. They made no mistake when they went a goal behind and continued to dominate, fighting back. When Jamie Vardy sealed victory late on, it blew the roof off the King Power Stadium, with Stephy Mavididi and Abdul Fatawu pouncing on Maresca as he ran down the touchline.

Before that game, City’s away record had been better than their home form. But this win not only improved the mood for the rest of the season, but also kicked off a four-game winning streak at the King Power.

Speak clearly before the Choudhury heroics

But City’s away form never recovered and back-to-back defeats on the road at Millwall and Plymouth took the anger and anxiety in the stands to new levels. Maresca and the players blew it.

The team knew something was up and it was time to get it out of their system. They had a long meeting after the Plymouth defeat to Maresca, then had a players-only talk at training a few days later where anyone and everyone was encouraged to come forward and share their thoughts on where things were going wrong .

It was agreed that City, after a blow to their confidence caused by the defeats, are beginning to be more cautious in possession and not take calculated risks in the hope of breaking down the opposition. Those words helped and City scored twice against West Brom in their next game.

However, they were open at the back and allowed the Baggies to create a hatful of chances. In the way is Hamza Choudhury, whose trio of heroic goal-line saves earned City three points.

City beat Southampton in best display of season

Slips from elsewhere meant City were on top even before they had a game in hand. This was the moment to put his advantage. In a big game against quality opposition, they delivered.

In particular, Fatawu did. Ater was a whirlwind who tore through Saints to score three goals and set up another in his best individual performance of the campaign. But City didn’t let the visitors have a sniff either and Hermansen had no save to make.

It was a result that put City on the brink of promotion and gave them the confidence they needed to win it. In the end, Leeds (and QPR) did the work for them.

No hangovers as the City riots in our day through the ages

The last time City won the Championship, the first game after their promotion was a 4-1 defeat at home to Brighton. From the stands, it seemed to me that some of the players were nursing headaches when they came out on the field.

There was no such repeat at Preston. City had celebrated promotion hard, with a party at Maresca on Friday night and beers at Seagrave on Saturday morning. But there were only two chances to win the title and they got in shape to claim the trophy as soon as they could.

Record an absolutely dominant 3-0 win at Deepdale to the delight of the 5,700 City fans who had traveled. In the stands, it was 90 minutes of noise, celebration, nostalgic songs, inflatables and light flares, and then another hour of jumping after the final whistle, this time with the players next to each other. It will not be an evening that anyone will forget. in a hurry.

What do you think was the key moment in City’s title win? Let us know in the comments section below.