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In the final game of the opening weekend in the Championship, we watched the action at the King Power Stadium and came up with Leicester City vs Sheffield Wednesday player ratings from both sides of the game.
It was always going to be a cagey affair given everything going on off the pitch, with Sheffield Wednesday fans staging a protest against Dejphon Chansiri by arriving in their seats five minutes late.
But, the Owls players were more than ready to go from the off, putting Leicester City under pressure from the first whistle.
That pressure paid off when Nathaniel Chalobah gave Wednesday the lead after 26 minutes. Sadly, he came off injured five minutes later, but the away side maintained relative control of the game through to half-time.
It was a completely different story in the second half, with the Leicester players finally waking up and taking the game to Wednesday. Not long after the break, the scores were level thanks to Jannik Vestergaard poking home from a set-piece.
From there, Wednesday were merely hanging on by a thread, and their task was made even more difficult when Barry Bannan, who finally got the go-ahead to play today, was shown two yellow cards later on in the second half.
With three minutes of normal time to go, the Owls’ valiant efforts were laid to waste by a Wout Faes header to clinch all three points for Leicester City.
Leicester City player ratings
Jakub Stolarczyk – 7
Made a fine fingertip save to deny Chalobah early in the game. Had very little to do after the break.
James Justin – 6
Hardly any action down his side in the first half. Offered a little more in attacking areas in the second half.
Caleb Okoli – 6
Couldn’t handle Cadamarteri and was rightly substituted in the second half.
Jannik Vestergaard – 7
Somehow found himself beaten in the air on multiple occasions as Sheffield Wednesday dominated set-pieces in the first 45. Came alive in the second and managed to poke home an equaliser from a low free-kick with a nice touch and finish.
Luke Thomas – 5
Really seemed to struggle as most of Wednesday’s play came down the right.
Oliver Skipp – 4
Had no control over the midfield battle. Made a big deflection for the Owls’ goal. Didn’t look up for the game at all and was subbed off at the break.
Boubakary Soumaré – 6
Fairly anonymous in the middle. Seemed to get a bit better once Harry Winks was introduced.
Abdul Fatawu – 7
Showed some moments of creativity but was largely contained by Liam Palmer and Max Lowe in the first-half. Really started to influence the game after the interval and ended up causing havoc for Wednesday.
Bilal El Khannouss – 7
Similar to Fatawu, the highly-coveted Bilal El Khannouss did show a slight spark in his free role, but was stifled by and large until Leicester got the numerical advantage and the Moroccan was able to assert his influence.
Stephy Mavididi – 8
The least effective of the three players behind the striker early on, but really started to make things happen once he got into the game in the second half. Looked like such a tricky customer and really made things happen for the Foxes.
Jordan Ayew – 6
Was starved of service for much of the game. Probably needed to drop deeper and make something happen for himself. Had a couple of decent runs out wide but nowhere near enough influence centrally.
Harry Winks – 7
On for Skipp at half-time. He may be much-maligned by Foxes fans, but Winks actually really helped his team wrestle control of the game back in their favour.
Jeremy Monga – 7
A very lively performance from the Leicester starlet when he came on. Wednesday didn’t know how to handle him.
Wout Faes – 7
Of all the players to come on and change the game, we never expected Wout Faes to make the difference. Had a free header to win the match, and didn’t waste his chance at all.
Patson Daka – 6
Could have done better with a chance he had late on. Had very little impact on the game.
Kasey McAteer – 7
Impressed with the amount of running and effort the youngster put in. You could tell he really wanted to turn the game around and his dynamic display did make a difference to the flow of the match.
Sheffield Wednesday player ratings
Pierce Charles – 8
A string of solid saves to deny Leicester for as long as he could. Pulled off one wonderful stop with five minutes to go to deny a Patson Daka header. Very unlucky to be on the losing side.
Yan Valery – 7
Nice assist to set up Wednesday’s opener. He also managed to contain Stephy Mavididi for much of the game. Had to come off injured in the second half.
Liam Palmer – 7
A brilliant performance overall from the veteran Owls man. Handled the tricky Leicester players with no-nonsense defending and was one of the calm heads the team needed.
Dominic Iorfa – 6
Showed some aerial threat at set-pieces. However, simply not strong or quick enough at the back to deal with Leicester’s attack once they got going.
Gabriel Otegbayo – 6
Nothing particularly of note for the young defender. Like Iorfa, he struggled to contain the likes of El Khannouss and Ayew at times.
Max Lowe – 7
To say Max Lowe has handed his notice in at Wednesday, he certainly didn’t play like it. Committed, hard-working, assured in the backline. The Owls will be desperate to keep him.
Barry Bannan – 5
A couple of moments of composure in the middle, but struggled to let his creativity flourish as much as he would have liked. Will be very disappointed to get the red card late on, but he can’t really complain after that challenge.
Nathaniel Chalobah – 8
Lively, calm on the ball, eager to make things happen. Scored a brilliant goal which was very much deserved after his display. Was the best player on the pitch but will be gutted to have left the game after just over half an hour through injury.
Svante Ingelsson – 7
Lots of clever runs from the Swedish midfielder, who covered lots of ground and made himself very fluid across that bit of space behind the front men.
Jamal Lowe – 6
Didn’t seem to be quite on the same wavelength as his strike partner, but good link-up play in the build-up to the goal to release Valery.
Bailey Cadamarteri – 7
Some clever hold up play and acted as a proper target man for the Owls attack. Never stopped running and causing problems for the Leicester defenders.
Sean Fusire – 6
On to replace Chalobah after 30 minutes. Truth be told, he barely had any impact on the game and Wednesday looked far weaker with him in the midfield as opposed to Chalobah.
Olaf Kobacki –
Replaced the injured Yan Valery in the second half.
Charlie McNeill – N/A
Came on with about five minutes of injury time to go. Not enough time to really get going.
Ike Ugbo – N/A
Similar to McNeill, just wasn’t given enough time to make a difference.