Southampton 2-3 Leicester City – What do the numbers say?

arnav
By Arnav
3 Min Read

A dramatic comeback to overturn a two-goal deficit away at Southampton made it two consecutive wins for Steve Cooper’s Leicester City. Trailing 2-0 at halftime, things looked bleak for the Foxes. However, an inspired Abdul Fatawu brought Leicester level with 15 minutes to go. 

With the hosts down to ten men, Leicester pushed for a winner and got it in dramatic fashion in the 98th minute. Jordan Ayew converted a clever corner by Harry Winks to snatch a late victory at the St. Mary’s Stadium. Let’s take a look at the numbers from the magical victory.

A game of two halves

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Each half was entirely dominated by one team. Southampton were by far the better side in the first half, while Leicester dominated proceedings in the next 45. In the first half, the Saints recorded an xG of 1.68 (Leicester had 0.79), three big chances (Leicester managed one), and four shots on target to Leicester’s zero.

However, it was a completely different story in the second half. Leicester’s xG of 2.41 was almost five times more than Southampton’s xG of 0.41. The Foxes dominated possession and recorded three big chances.

Impact of the young wingers

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Facundo Buonanotte and Abdul Fatawu are 19 and 20 years old respectively, and were the two stars for Leicester. Buonanotte and Fatawu combined for Leicester’s first goal, and the Ghana winger also played a big part in the Foxes’ second. In the 30 minutes Fatawu was on the pitch, he managed five touches in the opposition box–second highest in the team. Additionally, the young winger recorded three carries into the Saints penalty area. Apart from Bobby Decordova-Reid and Stephy Mavididi (both recorded one carry), no other Leicester player managed to record a carry into the opposition box.

Buonanotte had another fine game, scoring in his second consecutive league game for the Foxes. He was good in attack, and the Argentine also worked extremely hard out of possession. His seven tackles were the highest in the team, underlying his all-around capabilities on the pitch.

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