Well, I wasn't expecting that! True, before the Rotherham game I thought it would be very QPR-ish to lose 0-1 at home to the team at the bottom of the league, then go and beat the top of the league team away. But given that we beat Rotherham 1-0, a defeat at the King Power stadium looked nailed on. And yet, we got the first goal, got a second, conceded one, but managed to see the game out without conceding again. The 3,000+ visiting fans were absolutely delirious after the final whistle, singing, "The R’s are staying up, The R’s are staying up, Now you gotta believe us, Now you gotta believe us... The R’s are staying up."
Marti Cifuentes made three changes to the starting eleven, playing Lucas Anderson in preference to Joe Hodge, Sam Field instead of the suspended Jack Colback and Lyndon Dykes rather than Michael Frey. That meant we lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation as follows: Asmir Begovic in goal; Jimmy Dunne, Steve Cook, Jake Clarke-Salter and Kenneth Paal in the back line; Field and Isaac Hayden in front of them; Anderson, Ilias Chair and Chris Willock as the attacking trio; and Dykes up front.
Cofuentes’ tactics seemed remarkably similar to Gareth Ainsworth's when we were facing top-of-the-league Burnley at the tail end of last season -- soak up the pressure and try to hit them on the break. That had worked at Turf Moor, but I thought it was dangerous here, given how much pace and quality there is in the Foxes' squad. Our top scorers (Chair, Willock, Dykes, Paal) have four apiece, whereas their top two have 10 each and six of their players have scored four or more. Their home record is good, having only conceded 11 goals at the King Power stadium this season. Would Ainsworth ball really be enough against this lot?
Turned out, it would. We proved pretty good at keeping the hosts at bay in the first half, limiting them to three shots on target inside the penalty area, only one of which was on target. A meagre return on 70% possession.
We only had one shot in the first 45 minutes, but it was enough to give us the lead. The move started with some great work from Willock in the right hand channel, who put in a proper shift in this game, just as he had in the previous two. He slid a pass through for Dykes, who was in on goal, but instead of shooting he passed it to Chair on the far post who netted with an easy tap-in.
Our goal was decidedly against the run of play, but it came at the right time -- in the 39th minute -- which means we just had to hold on for another nine minutes (the fourth official added three) to go in with a one-nil lead.
I had put £10 on QPR to win at 17/2, but, God help me, I would have cashed out at this point if I could have got the Ladbrokes app to load on my phone, which, thankfully, I couldn't.
The second half soon settled down into a similar pattern, with most of the game played in our half. If anything, the pressure was even more intense, with more shots flying towards our goal than in the first half -- 11 in total, four on target. This time the Foxes had a whopping 78% possession, bringing back memories of Ainsworth's disastrous rein.
But we took everything the hosts threw at us, with the back line keeping its shape and everyone else in the team getting back to help out. Dunne continued to shine at right back and Cook was immense.
Marti took advantage of a free kick in Leicester's half won by Field in the 57th minute to replace Dykes with Sinclair Armstrong and Anderson with Paul Smyth and, like last week, the subs proved to be inspired. The ball ended up in a knot of players about 20 yards from their goal and it fell kindly for Armstrong, who took a moment to set himself then buried it in the back of the net. 0-2 to the visitors. Seeing Armstrong come to the corner flag in front of the visiting fans and lift his arms aloft to soak up the adulation was glorious.
At this point, a party broke out behind the Foxes' goal. Among the usual chants was: "Top of the League, You're having a laugh, Top of the League, You're having a laugh."
But as if to remind us of their quality, the hosts scored from a set piece in the 60th minute. Keirnan Dewsbury-Hall almost netted from a free kick just outside the area, with Bego managing to palm the ball away, but it landed at the feet of Tom Nelson, who sent it flying past the still sprawling Bosnian.
After that, it was squeaky bum time, with 35 minutes left to play, including five minutes of injury time (even though there no injuries). But, somehow, we managed to keep the table toppers at bay, helped by Morgan Fox replacing Willock in the 73rd minute and the team moving to a 5-4-1 shape.
So that's three wins on the spin for the Spaniard, moving us up to 19th -- a pretty remarkable turnaround for a team nearly everyone had written off. But none of the clubs around us lost this afternoon, meaning the three below us -- including Stoke in 22nd place -- are all on 38 points. So in spite of the uptick in form, we're only keeping clear of the relegation zone on goal difference. And our run-in is more challenging than our rivals'.
Can we do it? The drama continues with promotion chasers West Brom at home on Wednesday night, followed by Middlesbrough, also at home, next Saturday. Let's bask in the afterglow of this fantastic victory for a day or two, but not get complacent. We're not home and dry yet.
Damn… I wish I had gone. It’s my own fault, I should have had more faith
Thanks Toby.