Check the result. Glance at the table. All is well at Leicester City, right? In some ways, perhaps even in the most important way, that is true. After all, victory against Norwich – achieved despite falling behind – kept the Championship title race within their control.
Driving Leicester’s comeback was Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. The theory that he is a level above second-tier football is long since proven. Still, in equalising before the break, and setting up Stephy Mavididi to put Leicester ahead after it, Dewsbury-Hall only further reinforced it.
There was even, for good measure, a stoppage-time goal for Jamie Vardy, the Haribo-infused symbol of the very best of Leicester times. “We started by conceding and so needed to be mentally strong,” the Leicester manager, Enzo Maresca, said. “But we dominated the game, we controlled the game.”
All well, then? Not entirely. In football, reality and perception often contradict, and nuance is impossible to ignore. Here, even with a positive result, the inescapable feeling was that it was not supposed to be like this.
The last time Leicester supporters had assembled on a bank holiday Monday was on New Year’s Day. Then Huddersfield were brushed aside and a 10-point gap at the Championship’s summit materialised. Southampton, then third, trailed by a baker’s dozen.
Premier League resurrection beckoned invitingly. Doubtless there were many who earmarked the Easter weekend as one when the final dots and crosses of promotion might be applied. Instead, four points from the last available 18 had, before this game, brought underlying tensions – about finances, about style, about a general tumble from grace – bubbling to the surface.
For now, at least, they have returned to a simmer. All, though, is far from OK. Even should promotion transpire – and it may very well – a real possibility remains that an asterisk or two will need applying to the season. Allegations of financial non-compliance from both the Premier League and the English Football League flank Leicester like a pair of crushing walls.
Going behind to Gabriel Sara’s strike hardly helped, although their 33rd-minute equaliser was merited. When Norwich failed to clear, Wilfred Ndidi floated a teasing cross to the back post. Mavididi, rather than seek personal glory, nodded it back across goal. Dewsbury-Hall’s headed finish was simple.
As time passed, Leicester rediscovered a little of their strut. Angus Gunn smothered an Ndidi effort. Sam McCallum, under no pressure, misdirected a back header and Patson Daka almost nipped in. It felt like the appropriate questions were “who” and “when” rather than “if”.
The answers were Mavididi and just past the hour. Receiving possession on the edge of the area, Dewsbury‑Hall teased Shane Duffy, glanced left and found the winger. A low curled finish resulted in home delight. Vardy’s late gloss burst the remaining tension.
“I’ve said many times that we have our way to try to win the game since we start,” Maresca said, acknowledging his side’s approach play is not universally popular. “I understand the fans sometimes want us to be more direct but it’s never going to happen while I’m here.
“It was very important to see the players, at 1-0 down, tell each other to continue in the same way. For us that’s important as you can see the idea is there, the message is there. They really trust in that.”
Norwich were organised enough, if a little lacking in adventure. Their goal came from a smart training-ground corner routine. Ben Gibson took up a spot near the front post, closely attended by Dewsbury-Hall. Then, as Marcelino Núñez reached the delivery point, Gibson cleared his marker away, allowing Sara – who has started each of David Wagner’s 60 league games in charge – to dart in and poke past Mads Hermansen.
The off-field architect, Andy Hughes, was mobbed by his coaching colleagues. Had he been under exam conditions, though, accusations of plagiarism would doubtless have emerged: it had distinct notes of John Stones’s recent effort at Liverpool.
Despite their defeat, Wagner’s team remain well placed for a playoff spot that looked unlikely at the turn of the year. “I will quickly put this to bed,” Wagner said. “The truth is there were some positives but in possession we were below par.”
