“I Wouldn’t Say…”: Steve Cooper Defends Controversial Leicester City Decisions in Draw Against Palace
Steve Cooper made one change to the Leicester City lineup that suffered a 2-1 loss to Aston Villa in their last match before the international break.
This alteration came as Stephy Mavididi replaced Abdul Fatawu in the starting eleven for the game against Crystal Palace.
Cooper’s decision to include Mavididi proved successful, as the winger contributed to Leicester’s performance by adding to Jamie Vardy’s opener, giving the Foxes a 2-0 lead.
Mavididi’s goal came in the 46th minute, marking his first league start of the season with a crucial strike.
However, Leicester’s advantage was short-lived.
Just a minute after Mavididi’s goal, Crystal Palace responded with Jean-Philippe Mateta scoring to reduce the deficit to 2-1.
From that point, Leicester began to retreat, defending deeper and deeper in an attempt to hold onto their slim lead.
Unfortunately, the pressure eventually got the better of them.
In stoppage time, Leicester’s Conor Coady conceded a penalty after a foul on Ismaila Sarr.
Mateta stepped up to convert the spot-kick, resulting in a 2-2 draw and denying Leicester their first league win of the season in dramatic fashion.
Critics pointed out that Steve Cooper made defensive substitutions, which may have contributed to Leicester’s failure to secure the victory.
Cooper made three changes during the game, each arguably aimed at protecting their narrow lead.
Fatawu replaced Mavididi, likely due to Fatawu’s work rate in supporting the full-backs defensively.
Hamza Choudhury was introduced in place of Wilfred Ndidi, adding another defensive layer in midfield.
Finally, center-back Conor Coady came on for winger Jordan Ayew, signaling a switch to a more defensive back-three formation for the closing stages.
These substitutions invited more pressure from Crystal Palace, allowing them to dominate the final moments of the match.
Unable to clear their lines effectively, Leicester were pushed back into their half, leading to Coady’s costly foul in the box.
After the match, Cooper defended his decisions, stating that Palace had thrown everything at them, bringing on multiple attacking players, and Leicester simply matched their numbers defensively.
Cooper explained, “I never really felt like the goal was coming… To give the penalty away is frustrating.”
In hindsight, some might argue that the defensive approach was a mistake, but had Cooper made more attacking changes and still conceded, he would likely have faced criticism for being naive.
Nonetheless, Leicester’s inability to hold onto their lead left them agonizingly close to their first win of the season, only to be undone by pressure they invited upon themselves.
