Tottenham missed the chance to climb into the Premier League’s top four as Leicester City humbled Antonio Conte’s team 4-1 at the King Power Stadium.
Head coach Conte returned to Spurs last week with a 1-0 win over Manchester City after undergoing bladder surgery.
But the presence of Italians should not arouse visitors. Despite Rodrigo Bentancur’s early strike for Tottenham, Nampalys Mendy equalized with Leicester’s first goal before James Maddison and Kelechi Iheanacho gave the hosts a 3-1 lead.
Harvey Barnes fired home with nine minutes remaining to move Brendan Rodgers’ side six points clear of the relegation zone.
In the 14th minute, Ivan Perisic’s corner was well cleared for Bentancourt, who headed into an open net from four yards. But Leicester turned the contest on its head with two goals in three minutes.
Spurs opened the scoring with a 20-yard drive into the roof of the net after Spurs had only half cleared a corner.
A fierce challenge from the half-back on the halfway line then freed Iheanacho, who sacrificed the goal for Maddison to slide home.
Iheanacho curled in a 20-yarder from the far corner to make it 3-1 in stoppage time.
Spurs tried to respond after the break when the injured Bentancur tested Danny Ward from distance.
However, Leicester put the result beyond doubt after nine minutes. Barnes, who was ruled out by VAR in the 70th minute, this time took the ball from Maddison before Fraser Forster calmly headed into the bottom right corner from 20 yards.
Leicester player ratings (4-2-3-1)
GK: Danny Ward – 6/10 – Nervy on set pieces as is tradition at Leicester but had few saves to make.
RB: Timothy Castagne – 6/10 – Nearly gave away an own goal with some terrible miscommunication with Ward. Settled down and enjoyed some width.
CB: Harry Souttar – 8/10 – Pinged the ball over the top for Iheanacho to score Leicester’s third. Didn’t have a tough time with Tottenham’s attackeres’
CB: Wout Faes – 7/10 – Did get booked but pressed high up the pitch to help stop Spurs gaining any attacking momentum.
LB: Victor Kristiansen – 8/10 – Really strong performance. Treated Porro harshly and got into some dangerous areas.
CM: Nampalys Mendy – 8/10 – Snapped into challenges, helping Leicester remain in control. Brilliant half-volley following a corner sparked the comeback.
CM: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – 7/10 – Good performance, gliding away from Tottenham’s midfielders and launching good balls over the top.
RW: Tete – 6/10 – One or two chances in space but the quietest of Leicester’s attackers.
AM: James Maddison – 8/10 – Helped the hosts spring into action quickly when they won possession. Put Leicester ahead with a smart finish.
LW: Harvey Barnes – 8/10 – Enjoyed running at Porro and created dangerous chances by driving into the box.
ST: Kelechi Iheanacho – 9/10 – Kept his cool to set up Maddison and then isolated Dier before making it 3-1 with a precise finish.
Substitutes
Wilfred Ndidi (69′ for Mendy) – 7/10 – Kept Leicester dominant in midfield after his arrival.
Jamie Vardy (77′ for Iheanacho) – 6/10
Dennis Praet (77′ for Tete) – 6/10
Ricardo Pereira (88′ for Maddison) – N/A
Manager
Brendan Rodgers – 8/10 – Had Leicester high up the pitch for the majority of the contest and isolated Tottenham’s defenders against his quick attackers. Gifted some goals by the visitors but got everything spot on.
Tottenham player ratings (3-4-3)
GK: Fraser Forster – 4/10 – Into the team as Hugo Lloris’ injury replacement. Couldn’t get his big frame down quick enough for a few of the goals.
CB: Japhet Tanganga – 2/10 – Leicester consistently exploited Tottenham’s right hand side, with Tanganga provided no safety net behind Porro. Let Iheanacho walk straight through him for the fourth.
CB: Eric Dier – 1/10 – Hesitated in the space between defence and midfield, allowing Leicester too many shooting opportunities. Booked for a clattering challenge in the second half.
CB: Ben Davies – 3/10 – Brought the ball out calmly on occasion but was part of a pretty dysfunctional Spurs defence.
RWB: Pedro Porro – 2/10 – Handed his Spurs debut at the expense of Emerson Royal. Leicester got in behind the Spaniard time and time again.
CM: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 4/10 – Lost the midfield battle to Mendy pretty convincingly.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur – 6/10 – Pretty fortunate to open the scoring in the first half. Had to come off in the second half with a knock, leaving Spurs light in midfield ahead of their trip to Milan next week.
LWB: Ivan Perisic – 3/10 – Had no final product in the final third, both when played in by Kane and in crossing opportunities.
RW: Dejan Kulusevski – 3/10 – Touch was off throughout the afternoon. One chance to shoot from a Porro pass but his first touch was too heavy.
ST: Harry Kane – 4/10 – Couple of nice passes early on but so quiet for the remainder of the contest.
LW: Son Heung-min – 3/10 – Provided next to no attacking impetus.
Substitutes
Pape Matar Sarr (65′ for Bentancur) – 5/10 – Couldn’t help Spurs stop the waves of attacks Leicester summoned.
Emerson Royal (75′ for Porro) – 5/10
Richarlison (75′ for Perisic) – 5/10
Davinson Sanchez (75′ for Tanganga) – 5/10
Arnaut Danjuma (79′ for Kulusevski) – 5/10
Manager
Antonio Conte – 3/10 – Was back on the touchline after his recent surgery. Squad depth in some areas was brutally exposed and a number of individuals returned awful performances. A bad return and Conte had few answers.
Player of the match – Kelechi Iheanacho
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