Harry Souttar has been lauded as “brilliant” and a “class act” after the Socceroo introduced himself to Leicester’s fans with a goal assist in the Foxes’ 4-1 hammering of Tottenham.
Souttar may have launched his top-flight career with a luckless own goal on his debut at Aston Villa – but he helped his new side strike in the right direction on his home debut on Saturday as his probing long ball set up Leicester’s key goal just before halftime.
And in what felt like their most impressive win of a difficult season, the 24-year-old defender again earned plaudits for his assured performance at the back, just as he had done in Leicester’s 4-2 win at Villa.
The Foxes’ faithful at the King Power Stadium will have warmed to the calmness and authority of the 24-year-old’s performance when charged with helping subdue the deadly dual threat of Son Heung-min and Harry Kane.
Leicester had not beaten any team in the top half of the table all season and had not won at home since October, but the introduction of Souttar and their other January signings has quite transformed the atmosphere at the King Power.
Harry Souttar applauds his team’s supporters. (Photo by Jon Hobley/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“The three boys coming in (Souttar, Tete and Victor Kristiansen) has really energised the team,” enthused Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers, who’s been delighted at how the two big wins have pushed his side up to 13th, six points clear of the drop zone which they’d been flirting with.
“Big Harry Souttar was a class act today. Out of the Championship, six foot six inches, you’ve seen him at the World Cup, but today he was aggressive, winning it, he plays with the composure I like.
“If you’re going to play at the top level, you have to be able to play football – the big guy was brilliant, he was.
“Now we’ve got balance in the team and now we’ve got players coming back. We’re starting to see our football again – that excitement, that aggression.”
To make his day complete, Souttar was instrumental in the key goal just before halftime when he launched a long ball upfield which Kelechi Iheanacho brought down expertly before going on to race on and pick out the bottom corner with a cool finish.
That made it 3-1 to Leicester, whose day had begun poorly after Rodrigo Bentancur briefly gave Spurs the lead in the 14th minute in front of his returning boss Antonio Conte, who was back on the bench after his recent gallbladder surgery.
But Nampalys Mendy’s first goal in more than six years brought Leicester back into it, before James Maddison and Iheanacho struck before the break and Harvey Barnes netted the fourth with nine minutes remaining to seal a striking win over a team who beat Manchester City last time out.
Tottenham not only lost a game but one of their key players. Midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur went off in the second half with what looked like a serious leg injury ahead of a last-16 match against AC Milan in the Champions League next week.
The first cracks are appearing in Arsenal’s English Premier League title bid – right before the team’s biggest match of the season.
A 1-1 draw at home to Brentford on Saturday came a week after a lacklustre 1-0 loss at Everton.
Hardly the run of results the leaders wanted heading into the big one on Wednesday, when second-placed Manchester City come to Emirates Stadium.
Five points separate the teams, though City can reduce that when the defending champions host Aston Villa on Sunday. Beat Arsenal, too, and City could even climb into first place — albeit having played a game more.
Arsenal were flat against Brentford, who — following the playbook of Everton –defended in numbers and hit on the break, leading to lots of sterile possession from Mikel Arteta’s team.
Leandro Trossard’s first goal for Arsenal since his move from Brighton gave the hosts the lead in the 66th minute when he converted a cross from Bukayo Saka.
Ivan Toney claimed Brentford’s equaliser with a close-range header eight minutes later after Arsenal failed to clear a free kick.
It is the first time this season that Arsenal have gone back-to-back games without a win, and this was just the second time the team has dropped points at home.
“Games are won in margins in this league,” Arteta said, “and when you take the margins away it becomes really difficult. The team had a really strong performance again today but we didn’t get the three points.”
Newcastle have hit something of a sticky patch, too.
The Saudi-owned team drew at relegation-threatened Bournemouth 1-1, a week after drawing West Ham 1-1 at home. They’ve now had five draws in their last six league games.
Joao Felix’s second match for Chelsea went better than his first.
The Portugal forward scored his first goal for the club in a 1-1 draw at West Ham on his return from a three-game suspension following a sending-off on his debut a month ago.
Felix guided home a volley off a cross from another new signing, Enzo Fernandez, in the 16th minute only for Emerson Palmieri — a former Chelsea player — to equalise in the 28th.
Southampton manager Nathan Jones’ job is in the balance after Saints squandered a lead in a 2-1 home loss to Wolverhampton, who played more than an hour with 10 men and scored goals in the 72nd and 87th minutes.
January signing Joao Gomes scored the winner to leave Southampton in last place and four points from safety.
Under Jones, who replaced Ralph Hasenhuttl three months ago, Southampton have now lost seven of eight league games.
Asked if it was likely to be his last match in charge, Jones replied: “I have no idea.”
Fulham beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 to climb to seventh place, while Brighton were held 1-1 by Crystal Palace.
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