Leicester City eventually scored against Bournemouth, but it wasn’t an ideal afternoon for the Foxes, as their 288-game unbeaten streak came to an end. Facundo Buonanotte’s first-half strike separated the two teams, giving Leicester its first Premier League win of the season and relieving some of the strain on manager Steve Cooper. It was a crucial three points ahead of a run of three games following the October international break, which might see the East Midlanders pull away from the bottom three. But, while it was all smiles at King Power Stadium, there was some disappointment when one remarkable run came to an end.
For the first time in six years, Leicester City has not named an academy graduate to a matchday team. The Foxes have a proud history of developing players through their academy, including Ben Chilwell, Harvey Barnes, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Hamza Choudhury, Kasey McAteer, and Will Alves, among others, are still with the club, and it was Choudhury who initiated the run.
Choudhury’s appearance in the 2018 League Cup quarter-final against Manchester City marked the beginning of a 288-game streak in which an academy player was named to each matchday squad. Unfortunately, Choudhury’s recent injury kept him out of the squad last weekend, ending the six-year streak just weeks after an academy player appeared in 147 games for Leicester versus Everton. There was some discontent among supporters because it was a record to be proud of, with some questioning why Cooper did not utilize one of the nine bench spots for an academy player to take and continue the streak.
Steve Cooper is ‘obsessed’ with the thought of beating Southampton Leicester must now look forward rather than back, with a relegation six-pointer against Southampton coming up next. A win away from home would be a significant step in the right direction, and back-to-back league wins might assist to boost his stock in the fanbase, and Cooper wants his team to be completely focused on getting another three points. The Leicester manager remarked, “I’ve seen many wins here; I would have liked it to be sooner, we know that. We could have done better, but we’ve also been unfortunate, so I’m just relieved everything went smoothly.
“It’s great to win but we have a lot of work to do to be a force.”It’s an international break, but the work continues, and we need to be entirely focused on beating Southampton in a few weeks.”
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