Referee slammed for ‘absolutely blatant’ error in Sunderland defeat v Leicester City

Leicester City had just one shot in the whole of the second half at the Stadium of Light as they dropped deep to leave themselves clinging on to the three points.

Leicester City’s second-half struggles against Sunderland were attributed by Enzo Maresca to tiredness as his team withstood the home team’s pressure to hang on for three points.

After taking the lead in the first half, City labored through the second half, offering no attacking threat and managing only one shot throughout the entire forty-five minutes, which came from a speculative effort by Yunus Akgun. As the half wore on, City dropped deeper and handed Sunderland space, which created opportunities, even if Mads Hermansen was only required to stop long-range attempts.

Maresca said the performance was “worse” than in any of the three defeats that preceded it, saying City had to win “ugly”. The reason they had to do that was simply tiredness.

“Sometimes we try to analyze and find reasons why,” he stated. The primary one, though, is that some players are exhausted because the season is coming to a close. We have a number of players that haven’t played much during the past two or three years due to injuries or other circumstances. Now, though, it’s only a matter of getting your energy back and winning games.

“We dropped a lot as a team. We were defending too low. But the reason why was because we were tired, especially in the middle, with Kiernan (Dewsbury-Hall), Harry (Winks), and Yunus. Then we changed with Wilf (Ndidi). The reason why was just because we were tired.”

Ndidi’s return to the pitch was the big boost for City, the Nigerian making his first appearance of 2024. It was a surprise outing for the midfielder, who has only just returned to full training sessions after two-and-a-half months out, and Maresca admitted he wasn’t intending to use him, despite naming him on the bench.

Wilf came with us tonight solely to be with the team at this particular time, the manager said to BBC Radio Leicester. It was not intended to offer him any minutes. However, he made a great effort and sacrifice for us, which was greatly appreciated.

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