Match ends, Leicester City 3, Legia Warsaw 1.
LeicesterLeicester City3Legia WarsawLegia Warsaw1
Leicester City saw off Legia Warsaw to leap to the top of Group C and put themselves in pole position to reach the Europa League knockout stage with one game remaining.
The Foxes, who began the day bottom of the group, had the job done by the break at King Power Stadium, leading 3-1 after an open and entertaining first half.
Patson Daka and James Maddison put the hosts in charge before Filip Mladenovic responded after Kasper Schmeichel saved Mahir Emreli's penalty.
Wilfred Ndidi then headed in from a corner to re-establish the home side's advantage before a goalless second half.
Leicester lead the group on eight points, one above Spartak Moscow and Napoli after the Russian side won their meeting 2-1 on Wednesday.
Foxes back up and running
Leicester's progress under Brendan Rodgers has stalled this season with some inconsistent results, though victory means they now lead the group with a trip to Napoli still to come.
The Foxes arrived on a four-game winless run since beating Brighton on penalties in the Carabao Cup, but their flowing attack was enough to cover up any defensive frailties after losing Jonny Evans in the warm-up to a muscle injury.
Daka got the hosts off to a quick start, finishing smartly after an aggressive run from Harvey Barnes saw the ball deflect into the Zambian's path inside the penalty area.
Maddison was then allowed time to turn inside the box and pick his spot to double the hosts' lead 10 minutes later, scoring his second goal of the season.
Group C has been unpredictable throughout and Legia sparked hopes of unlikely turnaround when Mladenovic tapped in after Schmeichel got down to keep out Emreli's spot kick.
Ndidi, whose handball gave away the penalty, made amends soon after by heading in from Maddison's corner and that put the game beyond the visitors.
Barnes went through in what proved a tighter second half under a haze of smoke from the flares released by visiting fans, but could not beat Legia goalkeeper Cezary Miszta.
Those flares set off from the away end were followed by clashes between Legia fans and police.
But on the pitch Leicester dominated without really threatening to add to the advantage as they saw out a comfortable victory.
"We had a big job to do, we knew we have to win the game and to play a well as we did in the first half was equally as important," said Rodgers.
"Going into the last game, if we said that we would be top before we kicked off we would have taken that.
"You see the quality of the teams in the group, we are in control of where we finish. Our objective at the beginning was to qualify and that is in our hands."
Line-ups
Leicester
Formation 4-3-3
- 1Schmeichel
- 27Castagne
- 18Amartey
- 4Söyüncü
- 33ThomasBooked at 61mins
- 42SoumaréSubstituted forDewsbury-Hallat 62'minutes
- 25Ndidi
- 10MaddisonSubstituted forPérezat 63'minutes
- 37LookmanSubstituted forAlbrightonat 84'minutesBooked at 89mins
- 29DakaSubstituted forIheanachoat 85'minutes
- 7Barnes
Substitutes
- 5Bertrand
- 9Vardy
- 11Albrighton
- 14Iheanacho
- 17Pérez
- 20Choudhury
- 22Dewsbury-Hall
- 23Vestergaard
- 41Stolarczyk
- 54Marcal-Madivadua
Legia Warsaw
Formation 3-4-3
- 31Miszta
- 6JohanssonSubstituted forHolowniaat 45'minutes
- 4WieteskaBooked at 48mins
- 55JedrzejczykBooked at 87mins
- 5Ribeiro
- 8Soares MartinsSubstituted forCelhakaat 71'minutes
- 99Slisz
- 25MladenovicBooked at 39minsSubstituted forSkibickiat 71'minutes
- 20Muci
- 11EmreliSubstituted forWlodarczykat 78'minutes
- 82Lima LinharesSubstituted forPekhartat 78'minutes
Substitutes
- 3Holownia
- 9Pekhart
- 16Celhaka
- 22Skibicki
- 28Wlodarczyk
- 29Rose
- 59Tobiasz
- 92Ciepiela
- Referee:
- Deniz Aytekin
- Attendance:
- 30,658
Match Stats
Home TeamLeicesterAway TeamLegia Warsaw
- Possession
- Home58%
- Away42%
- Shots
- Home12
- Away9
- Shots on Target
- Home4
- Away5
- Corners
- Home8
- Away7
- Fouls
- Home17
- Away10
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Leicester City 3, Legia Warsaw 1.
Post update
Corner, Legia Warsaw. Conceded by Marc Albrighton.
Post update
Corner, Legia Warsaw. Conceded by Timothy Castagne.
Post update
Corner, Legia Warsaw. Conceded by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
Booking
Marc Albrighton (Leicester City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Foul by Marc Albrighton (Leicester City).
Post update
Yuri Ribeiro (Legia Warsaw) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Attempt missed. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Leicester City) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.
Booking
Artur Jedrzejczyk (Legia Warsaw) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Harvey Barnes (Leicester City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Post update
Foul by Artur Jedrzejczyk (Legia Warsaw).
Substitution
Substitution, Leicester City. Kelechi Iheanacho replaces Patson Daka.
Substitution
Substitution, Leicester City. Marc Albrighton replaces Ademola Lookman.
Post update
Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Post update
Foul by Jurgen Celhaka (Legia Warsaw).
Post update
Attempt blocked. Patson Daka (Leicester City) right footed shot from very close range is blocked. Assisted by Ayoze Pérez with a cross.
Post update
Corner, Leicester City. Conceded by Artur Jedrzejczyk.
Post update
Corner, Leicester City. Conceded by Mateusz Holownia.
Post update
Ademola Lookman (Leicester City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Comments
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Attacking stars Maddison, Barnes & Daka did the business tonight but this group is so tight, away to Napoi in final group game won't be for the faint hearted.
Well done Foxes and every other Premier League team plus Rangers, for great resuts in CL and Europa League this week
Good to see another British team to through 👍💙🇬🇧
But one decent performance in 7 games doesn't Cut-It...
Wait until we see how we are set-up against Watford on Sunday in the PL for starters... Then there's Southampton, Villa, Napoli and Newcastle too follow.
These are games we should WIN... ???????
😅🥰
Roger is derived from the pre-7th century Anglo-Saxon name Hrothgar, which means 'fame spear', the first reference to which is in Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxon epic poem.
One of us 🤗😉