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Jordan James of Leicester City celebrates after scoring the team’s second goal against Sheffield United<\/p>\nHow we scored the Leicester City players as Marti Cifuentes’ men nearly come from three goals down to claim a point, with Stephy Mavididi and Jordan James getting the goals<\/p>\n
14:45, 29 Nov 2025Updated 15:12, 29 Nov 2025<\/p>\n
Jordan James of Leicester City celebrates after scoring the team’s second goal against Sheffield United<\/p>\n
Leicester City fell short of an unlikely fightback as a dreadful first half proved too much to overcome in their defeat to Sheffield United.<\/a><\/p>\n Stephy Mavididi and Jordan James netted after the break to spark hopes that City could clinch a point. But a third goal was beyond them, the Blades doing the damage in the first half.<\/p>\n City <\/a>started hopelessly, conceding twice in the opening four minutes to former striker Tom Cannon and then Jairo Riedewald, with Sydie Peck putting the Blades three to the good at the break.<\/p>\n Fans were in a mutinous mood and turning on Marti Cifuentes, but City came out with some fight after the break, albeit gave themselves too much to do.<\/p>\n The loss means they remain in the bottom half and could end the weekend closer in points to the relegation zone than the automatic promotion spots.<\/p>\n After trailing 3-0 at half-time in midweek, Cifuentes said his team\u2019s response would define. Once again, they trailed 3-0 at the interval.<\/p>\n It took just 64 seconds for Cannon to come back and haunt City. Sold for \u00a310m in January, he\u2019d had a difficult time with Blades until this week, with a goal in the Steel City Derby helping him to finally find his feet.<\/p>\n He and the rest of the Blades looked much more energetic and motivated and capitalised on a series of City errors.<\/p>\n Stephy Mavididi gave the ball away, Luke Thomas was nutmegged, and then after Ricardo Pereira blocked one effort, Harry Winks miskicked his clearance. Cannon rifled the loose ball through Asmir Begovic\u2019s legs.<\/p>\n Barely two minutes later, they had doubled their lead. City twice failed to clear a corner with conviction and Callum O\u2019Hare\u2019s volley back in flicked off Jairo Riedewald and nestled into the bottom corner.<\/p>\n City\u2019s response saw them play some decent one-touch football, but they utterly lacked ideas and threat when they got to the final third. It quickly went flat again.<\/p>\n And then they were punished. Again they didn\u2019t clear convincingly from a corner and again they left a man on the edge free, although they could hardly have predicted such a stunning strike from Peck, who caught his volley sweetly, the ball dipping into the far corner.<\/p>\n Boos had been ringing out around the King Power Stadium at various moments in the first half and then when the visiting fans started chanting \u201cyou\u2019re getting sacked in the morning\u201d at Cifuentes, some City supporters joined in.<\/p>\n A second-half fightback felt nigh-on impossible given the events of the first period, but to try to change the game, Cifuentes made a triple substitution, bringing on Boubakary Soumare, Jordan Ayew and Oliver Skipp, the latter playing at centre-back with Wout Faes taking a blow to the face at the end of the first half.<\/p>\n City, to their credit, immediately showed more verve and positivity and they had one back in the 53rd minute, Mavididi heading in Abdul Fatawu\u2019s deep cross after Michael Cooper came and failed to catch.<\/p>\n Cifuentes\u2019 men continued to push and their domination had fans sensing an unlikely comeback might be on.<\/p>\n Jannik Vestergaard nearly bundled in, with Riedewald clearing near the line, and then James did find the net, his swerving 25-yard effort catching Cooper out.<\/p>\n City had 10 minutes to get a third, but they could not muster any clear-cut chances, the Blades taking the points. Here\u2019s how we scored the players.<\/p>\n Asmir Begovic: <\/strong>He won\u2019t like that the first goal went through his legs and he seemed slow to dive for the second, but it can\u2019t really be said that he was at fault for either. He didn\u2019t actually have many saves to make beyond that. He got lucky with one poor pass late on. 4<\/strong><\/p>\n Ricardo Pereira: <\/strong>Much better. He blocked O\u2019Hare\u2019s effort well in the lead-up to the first goal and was strong generally in defence, showing composure in dangerous moments. He was at the heart of the good attacking play as well, picking up great positions. Some simple passes did go astray though. 7<\/strong><\/p>\n Wout Faes: <\/strong>He lacked conviction in his clearances and that proved costly for the second goal, as he could only head straight to O\u2019Hare. He was in the right place to clear a few more crosses and avert danger, but his presence frustrated supporters. Taken off at half-time after a blow to the face. 4<\/strong><\/p>\n Jannik Vestergaard: <\/strong>He fouled Cannon way too often in the first half and his lofted passes put team-mates in trouble. But he was much, much improved in the second period, pinging passes around the park. 6<\/strong><\/p>\n Luke Thomas: <\/strong>He had a ropey first half in which he was beaten easily by Seriki for the opening goal, and he then seemed to move the ball far too slowly, meaning he was caught in possession a few times. He was solid enough in the second period though and joined the attack when he could. 4<\/strong><\/p>\n Harry Winks: <\/strong>A wild miskick led to the first goal and he never quite got to grips with the game thereafter, albeit he played some nice one-touch passes during City\u2019s better spells. There were too many passes that zipped by him too and allowed Sheffield United to attack City. 4<\/strong><\/p>\n Jordan James: <\/strong>He was one of the few City players who looked up for it from the first whistle and he maintained those energy levels through the 90 to make City a much better attacking threat in the second half. He connected well with Fatawu and Ricardo, made good forward runs and then struck excellently for his goal, the swerve beating Cooper. 8<\/strong><\/p>\n Bobby De Cordova-Reid: <\/strong>There were some nice touches in the first half, but he wasn\u2019t involved enough. In the second period, he featured more heavily, and connected play reasonably well without creating any truly dangerous moments. 6<\/strong><\/p>\n Abdul Fatawu: <\/strong>He moved the ball about with James and Ricardo well and he delivered the cross for Mavididi\u2019s goal, but he still frustrated often, running into trouble and not finding blue shirts with his balls into the box. 5<\/strong><\/p>\n Patson Daka: <\/strong>He just wasn\u2019t involved in the game at all. There were a couple of poor touches when he dropped deep to get the ball as well. It\u2019s a shame that he does not seem to have kicked on since his goal last weekend. 3<\/strong><\/p>\n Stephy Mavididi: <\/strong>He gave the ball away for the first goal but that was his only poor moment in another strong outing. He attacked his man, showing moments of great dribbling, worked back well and then gambled on a deep cross to score the first City goal. 7<\/strong><\/p>\n Oliver Skipp: <\/strong>He filled in manfully at centre-back, working hard defensively and passing the ball well out from the back. City were on the front foot and so there were not too many defensive moments for him to deal with, but he still coped well. 7<\/strong><\/p>\n Boubakary Soumare: <\/strong>He helped change the game. He provided a level of control in midfield, moving the ball with confidence and made great choices on the ball, knowing when to go short and when to go long. Really good. 8<\/strong><\/p>\n Jordan Ayew: <\/strong>He did hold the ball up well, although was maybe too negative when he offloaded it. As an attacking threat, he didn\u2019t offer much. 5<\/strong><\/p>\n Jeremy Monga: <\/strong>It was his first appearance in a while and he looked a little rusty. He couldn\u2019t beat his full-back with much regularity. 5<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest Leicester City headlines sent straight to your phone<\/p>\n Get the latest Leicester City news sent straight to your phone by joining our Foxes WhatsApp community. Just click here<\/a> and select \u2018Join Community\u2019 to get started.<\/strong><\/p>\n No one will be able to see your personal information in the community and you will only receive messages from the LeicestershireLive sports team. We will not spam your WhatsApp feed with constant messages, but you will receive updates from us daily with the latest City stories. All you need to participate in this free service is to have WhatsApp on your phone.<\/strong><\/p>\n If for some reason you decide you no longer want to be in our community, you can leave at any time by clicking on the name at the top of your screen and then ‘Exit Group’. It’s as simple as that. You can read our Privacy Notice HERE.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n