A much-changed Leicester City side overcame West Ham United on Saturday in what proved to be Manuel Pellegrini’s final game in charge of the Hammers. He leaves the London club hovering just a point above the relegation zone, and one of the Foxes fringe players ensured it was a torrid weekend for the visitors. Demarai Gray was excellent for Leicester City and could be making first-team starts more often if he continues to impress.
Gray was making just his second start of the season for the Foxes, though he has made ten Premier League appearances from the bench this term. He made the most of not having been introduced to the game midway through it by setting the tempo himself instead of having to adjust to it. The 23-year-old even got back to defend helping out James Justin behind him by making a tackle and an interception.
But it was with the ball at his feet that Grey began to make his presence felt on the pitch. The winger made 36 passes of which 80.6 per cent reached their intended target, including the joint highest number of accurate crosses of any Leicester City player. Furthermore, he was not wasteful with his long balls, making sure two-thirds of his lofted passes reached another player in blue.
Where Gray impressed most was in attacking scenarios. He stepped up to take a penalty after nine minutes, which would have opened the scoring, though he missed his opportunity from 12 yards out. Though he later redeemed himself by latching on to Ayoze Perez’s pass to caress a winner around Lukasz Fabianski after a neat breakaway. That goal was one of two shots on target, the joint-most of any Leicester City player with Wes Morgan. Furthermore, nobody in blue had more efforts on goal than Gray managed in his 82 minutes on the field.
Only two visiting players were able to dribble around more opponents than Gray as he consistently terrorised the home defence. He was also unfortunate not to have registered an assist after playing a key pass. Brendan Rodgers will have been impressed with the performance from the 23-year-old, and it could lead to further first-team opportunities in the 2019/20 campaign.
