The relegation alarm bells are ringing loud and clear for Leicester City as they fell to a 5-3 Premier League defeat against Fulham on Monday.
Dean Smith's side suffered first-half nightmare as they went in at the break three goals down as Willian, Carlos Vinicius and Tom Cairney all took advantage of woeful Foxes defending.
Cairney grabbed his second to make it 4-0 before Harvey Barnes pulled a goal back for the visitors, who then saw Jamie Vardy miss a 66th-minute penalty.
Willian restored Fulham's four-goal lead before James Maddison succeeded where Vardy failed by grabbing Leicester's second from the spot nine minutes from time, while Barnes scored a late third.
“We didn't start the game with enough urgency and gave really poor goals away,” said Leicester manager Smith. “First half is what killed us, you can't give three-goal leads at this level and expect to come back.
“We showed some spirit and I would expect that. They are not a bad group of lads, some are maybe struggling mentally with the pressures. That is for me and the coaching staff to sort out and make sure we get the right team.
“We have given too many goals and chances away this season and we can't keep doing that.
“I understand their frustrations in the first half, they were matched by the frustrations on the bench as well. We tried to change things and we showed some bits of pride in the second half.
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Tom Cairney scores Fulham's fourth goal in their 5-3 Premier League win over Leicester City at Craven Cottage on May 8, 2023. Reuters -
Dejected Leicester City players after Fulham's fifth goal. Getty -
Tom Cairney celebrates after scoring his second and Fulham's fourth goal. Getty -
Fulham manager Marco Silva celebrates their third goal. Reuters -
James Maddison scores Leicester's second goal from the spot. Getty -
Leicester City goalkeeper Daniel Iversen is beaten by Willian's strike for Fulham's first goal. Reuters -
Leicester's Harvey Barnes celebrates scoring their first goal. Reuters -
Carlos Vinicius scores the Fulham's second goal. Getty -
Willian celebrates scoring Fulham's first goal. Reuters -
Leicester's Jamie Vardy misses a penalty. Getty -
Tom Cairney scores Fulham's third goal. Getty -
Harvey Barnes scores Leicester's first goal. Reuters -
Leicester manager Dean Smith. Getty -
Willian celebrates after scoring Fulham's fifth goal. Getty -
Harvey Barnes scores Leicester's third goal. Reuters
“We can't defend like we did for a lot of the goals. This is our chance to do some work and make sure we are not as porous as we were today.”
Leicester are currently 16th in the table but are only outside the relegation zone on goal difference and could drop into the bottom three by the end of the day.
Second-bottom Everton are one point behind Leicester and face seventh-placed Brighton on the south coast later on Monday. Nottingham Forest — level with Leicester on 30 points — in 18th are at home to rock bottom Sothampton in the late game.
The 2016 title winners also face a tough run-in with home games against Liverpool and West Ham United sandwiching an away trip up to Newcastle United.
Fulham remain in 10th place, six points ahead of London rivals Chelsea, who have a game in hand, and two behind Brentford in ninth. “Great team performance,” said manager Marco Silva. “Great moments of football, great goals. The way we played from the first minute was really good.
“We prepared well for the game and the players executed the plan very well.
“We clearly deserved the three points and it should have been much more comfortable. That is something for us to work on and keep improving.”
