Leicester City player ratings v Aston Villa as substitutes nearly pull off comeback

How we scored the Leicester City players as they lost at home to Aston Villa, Facundo Buonanotte scoring his first for the club after finishes from Amadou Onana and Jhon Duran

Leicester City’s search for a first Premier League victory of the season goes on as they were defeated at home by Aston Villa.

Conceding either side of half-time to Amadou Onana and Jhon Duran cost City, but they will again take heart from a performance that improved across the 90 minutes, with substitute Facundo Buonanotte scoring his first goal for the club to set up a potential comeback.

In a dramatic second half, Jamie Vardy put the ball in the net only to have the goal chalked off, while he also had a last-minute penalty award wiped out for offside. Refereeing decisions throughout the game irked the home supporters, and Steve Cooper confronted official David Coote at full-time.

The manager had made three changes for the game, giving three summer signings Caleb Okoli, Oli Skipp and Jordan Ayew their first league starts for the club. For Okoli, it was a Premier League debut, the Italian surprisingly selected over Jannik Vestergaard.

For the most part, the first half was better than those against Spurs and Fulham, City keeping the ball with more composure and pressing better to restrict Villa’s attacks. And yet they still went in trailing, Unai Emery’s side far more dangerous.

After two minutes, City needed Mads Hermansen to read play superbly, the Dane diving at the feet of Ollie Watkins as the England striker tried to round him. Then, after a mistake by Wout Faes, Watkins was played through one-on-one again, with Hermansen flicking out a strong right hand to deny him.

Just before the half-hour mark, Villa made the breakthrough, and it came from a cleverly-worked free-kick. Youri Tielemans, on his first return to the King Power Stadium since leaving the club, played a cute pass to Jacob Ramsey, with nobody tracking his run, the Villa academy graduate squaring for Onana to slide in and poke home.

City posed very little attacking threat through the first half, despite enjoying more possession, but did go close just before the interval. Okoli met Harry Winks’ dinked free-kick, with the touch off his stomach directing the ball goalwards, with Emi Martinez clawing it away.

The start of the second half was scrappy and City seemed to be better in the chaos than Villa, the noise levels inside the King Power rising. Just before the hour, they had the ball in the net through Jamie Vardy, but the whistle had long been blown after the ball hit referee David Coote in the build-up.

Just after the hour, Villa went 2-0 up. A simple one-two on the left allowed Lucas Digne to cross, with substitute Duran heading beyond Hermansen with possibly his first touch.

Cooper responded with a triple sub, bringing on Bilal El Khannouss as well as Stephy Mavididi and Buonanotte, and it had an immediate effect. Mavididi’s stepover fooled Lamare Bogarde and the winger clipped in a cross, Wilfred Ndidi heading it up into the air before Buonanotte connected with a clean volley to find the bottom corner.

City had around 25 minutes to muster chances for an equaliser, but didn’t create anything until a dramatic final 30 seconds. El Khannouss slipped in Vardy and he was brought down in the box by Ezri Konsa. The referee pointed to the spot, but changed his mind a second later when the offside flag went up. Here’s how we scored the City players.

Mads Hermansen: Produced two superb pieces of goalkeeping to deny Watkins, diving at his feet early on and then flicking out a right hand to keep out a goalbound effort. There was one scare with his feet where he just about recovered from his own poor touch, but otherwise he was calm under pressure. 8

James Justin: He was steady and so avoided the positional problems that played a part in the goals City conceded at Fulham. But there were any real stand-out moments of good defending either. 5

Wout Faes: He let Watkins through too easily early on, and then made a big error to set up the England striker’s second chance, taking far too long lining up a Hollywood pass when the simple ball was on. From there onwards, he was solid. 5

Caleb Okoli: He used his strength really well, put in a couple of crunching tackles, and cleared crosses effectively. But he also gave Duran half a yard of space for the Villa winner, and put himself in awkward positions at times so that he was too easily beaten. 7

Victor Kristiansen: Had a much more positive game than last week simply because he had more support from his team-mates on the left side. However, his forays into the attacking third led to very little danger. 5

Harry Winks: At the heart of everything for City. He got himself on the ball often, moved it left, right and between the lines, while also mopping up to cut out Villa attacks. A captain’s performance without the armband. 7

Oliver Skipp: He was combative, busy, read play well, and definitely added more balance to the team, helping Kristiansen out on the left. But his touch was sloppy at times, and so he couldn’t make best use of his moments in possession. 6

Abdul Fatawu: Not his game. Unlike in the Championship, he is going to come up against full-backs who can work him out, and he very rarely got past Digne. But also, he didn’t receive the ball as much as he should have. Did his fair share of defending as always. 5

Wilfred Ndidi: He pressed Tielemans well at times but he really struggled on the ball in advanced areas, with his touch loose and attacks breaking down with him in possession. City can’t afford that. 4

Jordan Ayew: He genuinely is excellent at winning free-kicks. He drew so many fouls in the middle of the pitch and that ensured City kept the ball for longer, a big help in restricting Villa. He worked out Bogarde too and pinched the ball off him a couple of times, but lacked threat in the final third. 6

Jamie Vardy: His touch was heavy at times, and that stopped him being able to link play. But he kept alive to opportunities and nearly won himself a penalty at the death. 5

Stephy Mavididi: With his first involvement, he’s skinned Bogarde to set up the goal and he carried the ball well after that too, if not always in the areas you want him to. It will only raise calls for him to start the next game. 7

Facundo Buonanotte: He looked really keen to get himself on the ball and dictate play from deep and he certainly got City moving, even if not all of his passes came off. And despite dropping deep, he still found himself in the box to connect sweetly with a volley and get his first goal for the club. 7 

Bilal El Khannouss: A tricky debut for the Moroccan who found himself crowded out. He put himself in the pockets, but with so many men around him, nobody would pass to him. He had stayed sharp though and played the ball for Vardy’s chalked-off penalty at the death. 5

Bobby De Cordova-Reid: Didn’t see a lot of the ball during his few minutes on the pitch. N/A

Kasey McAteer: Got into some decent positions and tried to put himself about, but was caught offside after one good run. N/A