Liverpool: James, Jones, Wright, Babb (Matteo 73), McManaman,
Harkness, Riedle, Thomas (Carragher 77), Ince, Owen, Bjornebye
(Murphy 46).
Subs Not Used: Warner, Thompson.
Goals: Ince 85.
Leicester: Keller, Walsh, Izzet (Savage 46), Lennon, Heskey,
Kaamark, Campbell, Prior, Elliott, Marshall (Fenton 73), Guppy.
Subs Not Used: Claridge, Parker, Andrews.
Booked: Lennon, Heskey.
Goals: Elliott 1, Fenton 83.
Att: 35,007
Ref: J T Winter (Stockton-on-Tees).
[PA-report] [Telegraph-report] [Times-report]
Roy Evans' rebuilt Liverpool side looked anything but title contenders as they crashed to a shock defeat against Leicester at Anfield tonight. Matt Elliott fired Martin O'Neill's men ahead inside two minutes and Liverpool fans were streaming towards the exit when Graham Fenton made it 2-0 seven minutes from time. Paul Ince's first goal for the Merseysiders since his £4.2million move from Inter Milan failed to inspire a revival and Roy Evans will be a worried man.
The expectation on Merseyside has been growing all summer and the £12million spent by Evans instilled a real belief that this time Liverpool could wrestle the championship away from Manchester United. But those dreams were deflated as Leicester maintained their 100 per cent start with a second victory.
This was supposed to be the new dawn with Ince as the inspirational captain, Karlheinz Riedle providing international quality skills up front and 17-year-old whizzkid Michael Owen making his home debut. But Leicester were anything but overawed. Last season they defied everyone by staying in the top flight and reaching Europe and they hammered out the message that they intend to build on that platform this season. The stars were not the new men in red, but the strong, tough defenders from Filbert Street.
Lookalike centre backs Matt Elliott and Spencer Prior, both sporting identical shaven heads, were outstanding at the heart of the Leicester defence. They coped with Riedle's thoughtful runs, and contained Owen, while Steve McManaman offered little threat. Leicester, who beat Aston Villa on Saturday, deserved their win. They were better organised, played more as a team, and kept rigidly to their game plan of deep defence and quick, incisive breaks. Emile Heskey and Ian Marshall kept Liverpool's rearguard more than occupied and young Neil Lennon fought for every yard against Ince. Liverpool abandoned their back five at the break, throwing Danny Murphy into midfield, and even brought on another striker in Jamie Carragher towards the end in a desperate attempt to break through. But they created precious few chances.
Leicester were ahead after just 74 seconds when Heskey crossed from the left and Elliott crashed the dropping ball past a helpless David James from eight yards. Liverpool toiled away and got nowhere. They were still stumbling forward with seven minutes left when Heskey produced a shot that James should really have held. Instead he pushed it into the path of Fenton, who tapped the ball over the line. Ince's effort from the edge of the box within a minute was too little too late.
Roy Evans branded his rebuilt Liverpool side "unprofessional" after watching them slump to a shock 2-1 defeat against Leicester at Anfield tonight. Evans watched in horror as Matt Elliott gave Leicester an early lead and Graham Fenton's second, seven minutes from time, put Martin O'Neill's men firmly in command. Paul Ince pulled a goal back within a minute, his first for the Merseysiders since his £4.2million move from Inter Milan, but Liverpool could not conjure up an equaliser. Evans, who has spent £12million attempting to mould Liverpool into a title winning outfit, blasted: "That was a major kick up the backside for us. The performance was not good enough for this club. "We defended so badly on their first goal," groaned the Liverpool boss. "You can't be as unprofessional as that. "It was the worst we have played at any time since we came back for pre-season training. "They worked hard but we didn't do enough to get out of the hole we dug for ourselves. "A lot was said about our home form last season and how bad it was -- we can't allow it to happen again."
Jubilant Leicester boss Martin O'Neill hailed his Anfield heroes crowing: "We were brilliant." Leicester made it two wins out of two -- following on from Saturday's victory over Aston Villa -- and O'Neill made no attempt to disguise his delight. "We showed great resilience," he said. "Kasey Keller hardly had a shot to save and the people in front of him were outstanding. Spencer Prior and Matt Elliott were fabulous in the heart of our defence. "I feel a bit sorry for Liverpool but they will get better with so many good players in their side. "We will enjoy this moment but I will settle for being two points behind them at the end of the season."
Liverpool unhappy
at home
By Martin Smith
Liverpool (0) 1 Leicester (1) 2
LIVERPOOL, among the pre-season favourites for the Premiership, suffered an unexpected early reverse at fortress Anfield last night. They have now collected only the one point from their first two matches.
Leicester City have won both their games to make a start even manager Martin O'Neill had not dared to dream about. He half-joked last week that he could not see Leicester picking up so much as a point before November. He was happy to be proved wrong.
It was Liverpool's form last season at Anfield, where they dropped 21 points, that proved a major factor in their failure to turn expectation into fact as far as the championship was concerned.
So there was a feeling of deja vu after just 72 seconds when the visitors took an unlikely lead. Indeed Leicester also led, albeit briefly, in the corresponding match on Boxing Day, which ended 1-1.
With no places available for away supporters while the Anfield Road stand is rebuilt, Matt Elliott's goal in front of two giant cranes and lots of steel girders, was greeted by stunned silence. You wanted to add a little cheer of your own to mark an event that otherwise might have passed everyone by.
Elliott had moved forward in anticipation of Steve Walsh's free-kick, conceded by Paul Ince deep inside his own half. Instead the ball eventually arrived via Emile Heskey, who turned and crossed inside the area, and Elliott dived in front of Steve Harkness to stab the ball home from close range.
Same old Liverpool, then, except that they started with three players in Ince, Karlheinz Riedle and Michael Owen, making their home debuts, and two more on the substitutes bench.
Owen, 17, again caught the eye in only his fourth first-team appearance, once out-pacing Steve Guppy, who is no slouch, receiving Michael Thomas's pass to feet and spinning sharply and missing Casey Keller's left-hand post by a smidgeon.
However, it was an isolated threat, despite Liverpool's majority share of possession in the first half. Danny Murphy came on to introduce more life to their midfield, now missing the Newcastle-bound John Barnes for the first time in a decade. Even so, Liverpool were still reduced to taking pot-shots from distance.
With eight minutes left Leicester doubled their lead when Heskey's shot was parried by David James, but only to substitute Graham Fenton, who turned the ball in.
Liverpool's supporters were streaming towards the exits and many of them will have missed Ince's first goal for the club, a 20-yard shot drilled into the bottom left-hand corner.
Liverpool punished for defensive failings
BY DAVID MADDOCK
Liverpool ...1 Leicester City ...2
LIVERPOOL, appearing content to take up where they left off last season, made a disappointing Anfield start to the new FA Carling Premiership campaign last night, losing to a Leicester City side that ventured only rarely into opposition territory.
Few lessons appear to have been learnt from the discouraging conclusion to last season's title race. When McManaman is man-marked to the margins, Liverpool still lack any other suggestion of inspiration. And, worse, they still cannot defend with even an appearance of resolution.
The shortfall may be made up if, as expected, they can announce today the signing of Massimo Paganin, 27, for £3 million from Internazionale.
"That performance was just not good enough," a clearly angry Roy Evans said afterwards. "We didn't do ourselves any credit at all," the Liverpool manager added. "We were sluggish and defended poorly. We've got to be better than that and I know we can be, loads better."
There will be games, like this, when Liverpool must subjugate inspiration to perspiration. To do that, they require a solid defensive platform, and, as Leicester gleefully discovered almost as soon as the game started, they do not have one.
It took 74 seconds for Matt Elliott to expose familiar failings. A quick free kick, and an arrogant lofted cross from Heskey, saw Elliott lumbering forward to stab the ball past James, taking full advantage of a criminal amount of time and space.
Owen, by his industry, and McManaman, for the first 40 minutes, hinted at a revival, but it never came. It was 28 minutes before the first home chance came, and the second half was even worse.
McManaman was confined to the flanks as Evans switched to 4-4-2 and gave Danny Murphy, formerly of Crewe Alexandra, his home debut. The youngster flattered briefly but it was another former Crewe man who came on as a half-time substitute, Rob Savage, of Leicester, who proved more effective as he defended stoutly.
Leicester snatched a breakaway goal seven minutes from time as the Liverpool defenders again lost concentration. Heskey ran through from the halfway line and, even though his shot was well saved by James, Fenton, another substitute, was left with time to guide the ball into the empty net. Ince offered brief hope to the Liverpool supporters when, almost immediately, he marched to the other end to drive home a fierce shot from 20 yards.
But his goal came too late to affect the outcome and the true emotions of the crowd were displayed at the final whistle, when the Liverpool players trooped from the pitch to a chorus of booing, their faces as red as their shirts.
LIVERPOOL (5-3-2): D James R Jones, M Wright, P Babb (sub:
D Matteo, 73min), S Harkness, S I Bjornebye (sub: D Murphy, 46)
M Thomas (sub: J Carragher, 78), S McManaman, P Ince K
Riedle, M Owen.
LEICESTER CITY (5-3-2): K Keller M Izzet (sub: R Savage, 46),
S Prior, M Elliott, S Walsh, S Guppy N Lennon, P Kaamark, S
Campbell I Marshall (sub: G Fenton, 73), E Heskey.
Referee: J Winter.