Ultimately, a game that until last week, was sold – and let’s face it, overegged – as a mouthwatering meeting between the partners of the protagonists in the “Wagatha Christie” case turned out to be about the 22 players on the pitch, after all. Jamie Vardy’s absence through injury meant a face-off of sorts against Wayne Rooney, the Birmingham manager, was never on the cards – and no detective work was required to identify which of these teams are favourites to win promotion to the Premier League. The Sky Sports cameras present here doubtless already have one eye on Leicester’s run-in.
Leicester, who have now won twice as many league matches as they managed across all of last season, are three points clear at the top of the Championship. Enzo Maresca’s – understandable –rhetoric about there being a long path to navigate yet is increasingly hard to take too seriously. Two goals by Stephy Mavididi and one from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall saw off Birmingham, who struck twice through Jordan James, in a lively but, in the end, predictable encounter. Rooney’s record since taking charge of Birmingham in October, when they were sixth in the table, now reads two wins from 11 matches.
The game was seconds old when the verbal slanging match started in the stands, the home support singing Rooney’s name before the away fans responded by chanting the name of Vardy, who has not featured this month because of a knee issue. Instead, a front three of Abdul Fatawu, on loan from Sporting, Mavididi, one of those to arrive following relegation, and Patson Daka did the damage.
Mavididi incited the home fans with his celebration after opening the scoring on nine minutes. The goal was outlandish in many ways. Within 13 seconds, Leicester went from almost conceding after James Justin smacked a wild clearance at a corner against a post before Mavididi, sent clear on goal by Fatawu, looped the ball into the net at the other end. Mavididi promptly perched himself on the advertising hoarding in front of the Tilton Road stand and folded his arms, resulting in an ear-bashing from the locals. Fatawu soon joined him before Harry Winks tried to play peacemaker, dragging his teammates away from the home fans. Mavididi was booked by the referee, David Webb.
Rooney had no complaints. “There’s emotion in the game, isn’t there?” he said. “I got a phone thrown at my head at Anfield once, which just missed me. It’s good that players can celebrate without worrying about VAR. I was listening to the Chelsea game on the way home in the car the other day and apparently no one celebrated because they were waiting for VAR to check it.”
There was an inevitable back and forth between home and away supporters, based on the trial that captured the imagination of millions around the world, and the game seesawed in the early stages, too. James, the bright Wales midfielder, equalised with less than quarter of an hour on the clock. It was a fine effort, pocketing the ball into the far corner after neat interplay between the tricky Siriki Dembélé and Ivan Sunjic, who fired a pass into James inside the box.
Leicester quickly regained the lead, again feasting on Birmingham’s high line. The move started on the edge of Leicester’s 18-yard box, where Ricardo Pereira, a £22m signing from Porto five years ago, dispossessed Juninho Bacuna, Birmingham’s match-winner in Cardiff last week. This time Fatawu released Dewsbury-Hall, who soared between Dion Sanderson, the Birmingham captain, and his centre-back partner Marc Roberts before rounding John Ruddy and crisply finishing into an empty net. “Rooney, what’s the score?” came the rather obvious riposte from the away support in one half of the Gil Merrick Stand.
Mavididi’s second arrived four minutes into the second half and while James pulled another goal back with about 20 minutes to play, a comeback always felt beyond Birmingham. Rooney’s immediate aim is clear: to propel Birmingham, 17th and six points above the relegation zone, clear of trouble. Maresca’s task appears less daunting. Leicester, who host bottom club Rotherham on Saturday, have established a 13-point cushion to third-placed Leeds.
“For sure, we are happy,” Maresca said. “But we are still in December and there are many games to play.”
