Leicester City drew 3-3 with Queens Park Rangers after the Foxes defiantly comeback in an end-to-end six-goal thriller.

Brendan Rodgers' side remain winless in their pre-season after an exciting clash with the EFL Championship side at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium.

Second-half goals from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Patson Daka pulled the scoreline level after the Foxes went 2-0 down until Rob Dickie fired in the hosts' third in the 83rd minute.

An 89th-minute penalty conversion from Kelechi Iheanacho was enough to earn the draw for the Foxes after new signing, Daka, was brought down by Seny Dieng.

1st Half Performance

Still eagerly waiting for their side's first pre-season match goal, Leicester supporters were excited to see that Rodgers had named a strong starting eleven to face QPR.

Ryan Bertrand returned to the Foxes' back four, joining Wesley Fofana, Çağlar Söyüncü, and Ricardo Pereira whilst Eldin Jakupović started in goal.

Ayoze Perez made a return to right-wing with Wilfred Ndidi and Boubakary Soumare joining Belgium international Youri Tielemans in midfield. This was Tielemans’ first game since returning from his Euro 2020 duty, adding further quality to the already impressive line-up.

Leicester fans were also delighted by the return of young winger Harvey Barnes, who started the game on the left-wing. The wide-man has been absent since his knee injury in April but was a constant danger to the home side's defence, making several threatening runs in the first half.

Young defender Fofana was the stand-out player for the Foxes early on, constantly denying the QPR forwards with his strong and reliable defending. Heading into the break, the Leicester defence looked rock solid as QPR struggled to break down the Foxes back-line.

This changed when the hosts took an unexpected lead in the 44th minute through a clever curling effort from Charlie Austin.

The 32-year-old fired the ball into Jakupović's top corner following some clever play from Moses Odubajo and Ilias Chair to get the ball in the box.

With an opening goal just before half-time, QPR went into the break full of momentum for the second half.

2nd Half Performance

Rodgers made just the single substitution at half-time with recent injury returner Barnes making way for Marc Albrighton

31-year-old Albrighton recently signed a new three-year deal with the Foxes despite rumours of his potential transfer to Burnley Football Club. This proved to be a smart and correct decision from Rodgers as the winger instantly caused issues for the host's defence with his pinpoint passing and deliveries into the QPR box.

Marc Albrighton had an outstanding performance against QPR | Credit: @LCFC
Marc Albrighton had an outstanding performance against QPR | Credit: @LCFC

QPR almost went two goals ahead in the 53rd minute after Chris Wilock's outstanding volley rattled the post. The Foxes couldn't keep the ball out of the net just minutes later, as Yoann Barbet fired in a close-range effort in the 55th minute making the score 2-0 to QPR.

At 2-0 down, Rodgers decided to make nine changes to his team with Albrighton and Jakupović remaining on the pitch.

Substitutes Off

Ricardo, Fofana, Söyüncü, Bertrand, Ndidi, Tielemans, Soumaré, Perez, Vardy.

Substitutes On

Benković, Amartey, Nelson, Thomas, Choudhury, Dewsbury-Hall, Sowah, Daka, Iheanacho.

The changes proved to be a smart decision from Rodgers once again as Dewsbury-Hall instantly pulled a goal back for the visitors in the 75th minute. The 22-year-old linked up cleverly with Luke Thomas down the left wing before firing a close-range effort past Dieng to make it 2-1.

Leicester fans were treated to two goals in quick succession as new £23 million signing Daka fired in a 77th-minute equaliser. The forward latched onto a perfectly weighted through ball from Albrighton and calmly slotted his shot past Dieng to make the score 2-2.

<b><a href='https://vavel.com/en/football/2020/09/22/leicester-city/1038280-leicester-city-vs-arsenal-previewhow-to-watch-kick-off-time-team-news-predicted-lineups-and-ones-to-watch.html'>Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall</a></b> and <b><a href='https://vavel.com/en/football/2021/07/19/leicester-city/1078601-five-leicester-city-youngsters-to-look-out-for-this-season.html'>Patson Daka</a></b> both score to make it 2-2 | Credit: @LCFC
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Patson Daka both score to make it 2-2 | Credit: @LCFC

Celebrations were cut short for the Foxes supporters as QPR once again took the lead through a close-range strike from Dickie in the 83rd minute, it seemed the traveling fans would once again be leaving the match in defeat for the third time in a row.

However, hope was revived through Daka once again as his speed out-foxed Dieng when chasing a loose pass in the keeper's box. Dieng was forced to bring the Zambian forward down in the 88th minute, awarding Leicester a penalty.

Following his penalty miss against Burton Albion, fans may have been nervous to see Iheanacho step up to take the spot-kick. The Nigerian dismissed those worries as he fired a brilliant 89th-minute penalty past a helpless Dieng, leveling the score to 3-3.

Overall Performance

Although the Foxes remain winless in their pre-season, there were some encouraging signs from this fixture.

The return of Barnes is a great addition to the Leicester side as his performances on the wing will certainly be needed for the upcoming season.

Albrighton's outstanding display was also a highlight after the winger had just signed his new contract following the transfer speculation. Despite rumours that the club were looking to buy a new wide-man for the 2021-22 campaign, Rodgers may be happy with his options knowing that Albrighton and Barnes will both be available.

A first Leicester goal for Daka is a perfect confidence boost for the 23-year-old after his calm finish will give him the momentum boost heading into the Foxes' next fixture.

As Rodgers has chosen to field almost completely different teams in both halves of Leicester's pre-season games, the Scotsman will have plenty to think about for his selection in their upcoming clash with Villarreal next Wednesday.

 

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