Manager Enzo Maresca begs to supporters to rally around crisis-hit team as slump continues with fourth defeat in six games.
Leicester City fans revolted against their struggling team after the club’s automatic promotion bid suffered a critical defeat against Bristol City at Ashton Gate.
On the final whistle, boos filled the air, and travelling fans vented their fury with a series of disparaging chants that questioned the skills of both players and management.
Many people were furious as Leicester players walked over to the Atyeo Stand to thank the 3,000-plus fans who had traveled to the West Country.
Anis Mehmeti’s stunning second-half goal condemned Leicester to their fourth defeat in six games, which, combined with Ipswich’s win at Blackburn, dropped the visitors out of the automatic promotion places.
Afterwards, Leicester manager Enzo Maresca urged fans to get behind his squad as the promotion fight heats up.
“I think their reaction is quite normal,” Maresca explained. “You can understand. All I can say is that we need them, especially right now.
“They have been excellent up until today, and we will need them to the finale. The pressure increases or grows when you reach the end of the season, especially when we lose points.
“The table is so close, the pressure can build a little bit, but it’s also normal.”
The outcome will have heightened emotions at the conclusion of a week that saw Leicester initiate a legal battle with the Premier League over an alleged infringement of financial regulations, followed by an EFL transfer ban.
Despite failing to halt the club’s worst run of play this season, Maresca refused to blame the decline in fortunes on off-field distractions.
“You can be worried about some things outside of football when the performance was not there, but the performance was there,” he said.
“You may be concerned if you lose a game in which you do not create opportunities and perform poorly.
“We could do many things better but the performance was good, like the amount of chances we created, on the ball, off the ball with high pressing.”
Maresca could have celebrated victory, but captain Jamie Vardy, a Leicester icon, had a bad day.
The 37-year-old missed two decent first-half chances, sending angled drives well wide, before squandering two glorious opportunities after the interval when he failed to beat goalkeeper Max O’Leary in one-on-one circumstances.
Maresca quickly absolved Vardy, who has 15 goals this season, of any culpability.
“Jamie does not need to apologise,” Maresca explained. “He has scored so many goals this season and in the history of our club.
“But we generated four or five clear chances, which demonstrates that it is football. Even Jamie is not immune to this.
“I believe he could score some goals. Unfortunately, that occurred today.
Leicester were again found wanting in defence on 73 minutes, as Hamza Choudhury failed to shut down Mehmeti, whose soaring effort sailed past the diving Mads Hermansen.
It was enough to secure Bristol’s second win in seven games, according to manager Liam Manning, who stated: “We started the game brightly, which created an energy and buzz throughout the arena.
“You know you will have periods against that level of opposition where you’ll have to soak up pressure and throw bodies in front of things and that’s why it was a thoroughly deserved victory.”
WHAT A STRIKE, BRISTOL CITY LEAD AGAINST LEICESTER🤯 pic.twitter.com/MUNGSpwWem
— The 44 ⚽️ (@The_Forty_Four) March 29, 2024
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