James Justin shines in emphatic Leicester victory against Stoke to secure the Foxes place in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup

Photo – PA Media

Leicester City took absolutely no prisoners after thrashing Stoke City at the Bet365 Stadium. It was a fantastic day’s work by Brendan Rodgers’ men. 

The Foxes triumphed with a 4-0 win over Championship outfit Stoke City which books their place in the Fourth Round draw.

Michael O’Neill’s side looked flat throughout, having rested a lot of his players but after being punished by a rampant Leicester side they can turn their attention back to the Championship and their pursuit of the Play-Offs.  

With Rodgers leaving out Jamie Vardy and James Maddison, he fielded a solid side which in the end was overwhelming for the Potters and they just couldn’t deal with the pressure in the end.  

James Justin put the Premier League side 1-0 up in the 35th minute with an extraordinary strike. The 22-year-old full-back dribbled inside and unleashed an unstoppable shot into the top right corner. No goalkeeper would have ever saved it.  

The former Luton Town prospect was up and down the wing all game long creating chances for his team and when needed, slotting back into his neutral right-back position to defend if Stoke ever came knocking (which wasn’t often). 

The Championship side did trouble Leicester a couple of times in the first half via set-pieces which the away side have struggled with this season.

Other than these glimmers of hope in the first 15 minutes or so, they did not offer much more. O’Neill knows he must do something to bolster his attack and still with three weeks to go in the transfer window, there’s plenty of time to bring in some reinforcements. 

In the second half the away side came out on the front foot this time and in the 59th minute Marc Albrighton scored a fabulous goal. He turned the ball from his right foot to his left and finished smartly after a glorious Youri Tielemans pass. 

After a further 20 minutes of domination, the Foxes were on the attack again. Tricky Belgians Dennis Praet and Timothy Castagne combined to eventually set up Ayoze Perez who had the ball on a plate for him around the penalty spot. 

Just two minutes later, Justin used his blistering pace to get down the touchline and fizzed in an inviting ball, which wasn’t dealt with properly and fumbled into the path of Harvey Barnes who leathered his ninth goal of the season past Joe Bursik in goal to set the score at 4-0 in Leicester’s favour.  

One of the few positives for Stoke was Ryan Shawcross returning to the starting 11 but as by the score line, it wasn’t an easy match to return to.  

Stocky City manager Michael O’Neill spoke after the game and noticed the pure differences in quality between the two sides.

“We were against a very good team and they demonstrated that. First half we gave ourself a chance – we didn’t take it and were then undone by some real quality.  

Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers would be ever so pleased with a vintage Rodgers performance. He had a lot of respect for fellow Northern Irishmen O’Neill’s.

“I think it was an all-round very, very good team performance. Stoke had a very experienced team out with good quality. Once we got the first goal, that got us going and we did very well.” 

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