Abdul Fatawu’s Hat-Trick Fires Leicester City Towards Premier League Return
- Abdul Fatawu’s sensational hat-trick propels Leicester City closer to a Premier League comeback, dealing a crushing blow to Southampton’s automatic promotion aspirations. Dive into the match highlights and Leicester’s path to redemption.
By mercilessly ending Southampton’s realistic prospects of automatic promotion, Abdul Fatawu’s hat-trick helped Leicester City take a massive step towards an instant Premier League return.
If Leeds lose against QPR on Friday, the Foxes could guarantee their spot in the top division as soon as Friday. They need to win one of their final two games against Preston or Blackburn to advance.
Before halftime, a Saints team that found it difficult to handle the Foxes’ pressure and purpose was behind 1-0 thanks to a cool, low finish from Fatawu.
After the break, Southampton significantly improved, but the clinical Foxes surprised everyone by doubling their lead with a strong header from Wilfred Ndidi.
The winger set up Jamie Vardy for his 18th goal of the season after a magnificent second from Fatawu. The former England striker then assisted the Ghanaian international in completing his trifecta.
Leicester now leads the table by four points and is still on pace to reach 100 points after the win.
Despite Leeds’ significantly better goal differential, Saints, in fourth position, have the mathematical ability to end the season tied with them in points. Daniel Farke’s team.
The south coast club would be forced into the play-offs if Leeds were to draw with QPR on Friday or Ipswich triumphed against Hull on Saturday.
Southampton suffered a serious setback following three straight home victories that put them in the running for automatic promotion. Then, on Saturday, they were unexpectedly defeated by Cardiff in a match that Saints dominated at times.
It was a costly setback for the Saints because Stuart Armstrong also had to be stretchered off the field after that game and is not expected to play for the team this season.
Ricardo Pereira and James Justin were added to the Foxes’ backline, forcing them to make two changes due to the Scotland international’s absence.
A deft pass from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall broke the Saints’ resistance after 25 minutes of unrelenting pressure, allowing Fatawu to slip past Kyle Walker-Peters. Next, with a superb side-footed finish into the bottom corner, the 20-year-old beat goalkeeper Alex McCarthy.
In addition to feeling that Wout Faes had gotten away with a tackle on Che Adams, which had regained possession and initiated the goal-scoring move, Saints reacted angrily when Fatawu whirled away and executed a backflip in celebration.
Russell Martin’s team did not exert any real pressure on Leicester until the second half, when they came out of halftime with a newfound feeling of urgency and intensity.
They were unable to penetrate Leicester even in that situation, and they ended the match without having a single effort go in.
A ruthless last half-hour that left Foxes supporters in the King Power Stadium in a frenzy sent Ndidi’s header to double Leicester’s lead.
The best goal of the game was Fatawu’s curling finish from outside the box to tie the score at three. The best assist of the game was his ball to find Vardy shortly after, and the 37-year-old then returned the favor to make it 5-0 at the end of a quick counterattack.
Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca remarked to BBC Radio Leicester that Foxes’ work was almost over.
The good news is that we are almost there; all we need to do is win one more game, which should be away against Preston the next time around.
“People typically make judgments about the outcomes. It wasn’t our best performance of the season, but I thought it was a good one.
“But overall it was a fantastic performance on the ball and off the ball, the way they pressed, the way they worked until the end.”
BBC Radio Solent spoke with Russell Martin, the Southampton manager:
We seemed to be doing well for around sixty minutes. The match was really close. It wasn’t enough, even though we played some amazing build-up.
While we were not, their assailants were extremely vicious.
“We were playing really well and in control at the beginning of the second half when they scored against the flow of play.” And what I saw tonight from my squad after that, I did not like at all.
“After that there was no togetherness, no character, no fight.”
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