Leicester City’s stunning defeat to Southampton has been characterized by an “infuriating” lack of resolve, a “completely unacceptable” decline, and the “capitulation” of a side struggling with confidence.
Despite leading 3-0 at halftime and maintaining a 3-1 advantage until the 81st minute, the Foxes ultimately lost 4-3 at home, with Shea Charles securing the win for Southampton with a dramatic 96th-minute goal, intensifying fears of relegation.
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After the match, Leicester’s interim head coach Andy King expressed his “sheer anger,” following his third consecutive loss since taking the caretaker role after Marti Cifuentes’ dismissal two weeks ago.
This defeat also came just four days after the club was penalized six points by the EFL for historical breaches of spending rules.
This long-anticipated penalty has thrust the Foxes into a relegation battle that their legal team had managed to avoid until the final stretch of the season.
Once celebrated for their miraculous 5,000-1 Premier League title win a decade ago, Leicester now sits just above the relegation zone on goal difference, having played one more game than Blackburn, who is below them.
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The loss to Southampton, marked by an extraordinary shift from a promising 3-0 lead within the first half-hour to conceding three goals in a mere 14 minutes, has been encapsulated by King as Leicester’s “season in a nutshell.”
Goalkeeper Asmir Begovic highlighted the cliché of the game being “one of two halves,” but former Foxes winger and BBC Radio Leicester pundit Matt Piper was outraged, questioning the viability of his role in media as he found following the team so “draining.”
“It was one of the worst halves I’ve ever witnessed in football,” Piper lamented in his post-match analysis. “How can you lose 4-3 when you are 3-0 up at halftime?”
Piper, a lifelong Leicester supporter who rose through the club’s academy ranks to play for them in the Premier League, was shocked by how the Foxes “folded” under pressure against the Saints.
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Begovic, the seasoned goalkeeper with two decades of experience, acknowledged the understandable frustration and disappointment felt by fans. However, he insisted that the “only way out” of their worsening relegation predicament is “to work harder and unite.”
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“Pointing fingers at this stage isn’t helpful,” he asserted on BBC Radio Leicester. “We can’t hang our heads or feel sorry for ourselves. As professionals, we need to remain united, keep our spirits up, and quickly address what’s not working.”
The “good” moments Begovic referenced came from impressive individual performances: Manchester City loanee Divine Mukasa scored his first goal for the Foxes, followed by a second from Patson Daka and a third from Abdul Fatawu that was a stunning shot into the top corner.
However, the tide turned when substitute Ross Stewart’s flicked goal in the 61st minute sparked a Southampton comeback. This marked Leicester’s fifth defeat in a six-match winless streak.
Begovic described the situation as a “normal reality” for a team lacking confidence. “Once they got that first goal, we lost our composure and capitulated a bit,” he noted. “We all want those three points to get back on track and distance ourselves from relegation.”
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