Leicester turn the screw late as Birmingham’s unbeaten start ends
On a night that felt like a throwback to the noise and nerve of the club’s peak years, Leicester City kept their home streak rolling with a 2-0 win over Birmingham City, clinched by Ricardo Pereira’s late finish. It was their fourth straight league victory at the King Power and, yes, their best home run since that famous title season. Birmingham, organized and stubborn for long spells, finally blinked — and paid for it.
Abdul Fatawu set the tone early. He slid inside from the right and snapped a left-foot strike into the far corner, the kind of shot that tells a full-back to give him a yard next time. It wasn’t a flood of chances for Leicester, more a steady grip. They weren’t dazzling, but they held the ball, squeezed the pitch, and waited for the moment to come. Birmingham’s shape — compact, a tight five-to-ten meters between units — limited the chaos. It just couldn’t survive it all.
The second moment that mattered came late, built by a teenager who wasn’t in the script at kickoff. Jeremy Monger, 16 years old and fearless from his first touch, had already been running at tired legs. Then he got the ball on the left, glanced once, and whipped a cross you could measure with a ruler. He was celebrating before Pereira met it — the kind of confidence that says he knew exactly what he’d done. Six yards out, far post, side-foot, game done.
Pereira had come on with the brief to steady Leicester’s right flank and push high when the space opened. He did both. He’d also had a nervy moment earlier — a late tangle that drew groans and a few dark looks from the Birmingham bench — but he rode that out. When the match flipped from careful to decisive, he was in the perfect spot to finish it.
Birmingham’s first league defeat of the season won’t sting because of the scoreline. It will sting because of the timing. They were still in the game with 10 to play, compact and dangerous on the break, and then a single lapse at the back post ended it. Margins in the Championship are seasonal — they wear you down — and this was one of those nights.
How the game unfolded — and what it means
Leicester were patient from the start. The full-backs pushed high, wingers stayed wide to stretch the pitch, and midfielders recycled possession until gaps appeared. Birmingham kept a mid block and waited for loose touches to pounce on. The first goal broke that discipline. A Leicester turnover forced a retreat, Fatawu found half a yard on his left, and his strike skipped low past the keeper’s reach.
From there, the rhythm shifted. Leicester’s centre-backs stepped into midfield to squeeze Birmingham’s counters before they began. The visitors had moments — a quick diagonal to the channel, a burst from midfield — but no clean look to finish them off. Set pieces were the out-ball, and Leicester handled those with old-fashioned simplicity: first contact, second ball, clear lines.
The second half had a different tempo. Birmingham pressed five yards higher after the break, trying to force Leicester into hurried passes across their own box. For a 15-minute spell it worked, and you could feel the stadium tense. Then the benches changed it. Leicester’s manager leaned into energy: fresh legs wide, a little more thrust down the left, and the latitude for Monger to face up his full-back one-v-one.
Monger’s cameo shifted the picture. He asked direct questions — not stepovers for show, but touches that moved the defender and opened the cross. His delivery for the clincher was clean and flat, the sort of ball that needs only a runner. Pereira’s timing did the rest.
Key moments that told the story:
- 14’ — Fatawu cuts in and lashes home with his left. Leicester’s early pressure pays off.
- 39’ — Birmingham’s best opening: a break down the right forces a low save and a scrambled clearance. They needed more of those transitions.
- 56’ — A sharp Birmingham press nearly forces a turnover in Leicester’s box, but the hosts play out and reset the tempo.
- 72’ — Monger on. Immediate intent, immediate width, and a different kind of problem for tired legs.
- 84’ — Monger’s perfect cross, Pereira at the back post, 2-0, lights out.
Tactically, it was simple and effective from Leicester. The wingers stayed chalk-on-boots wide to keep Birmingham’s back line stretched, and the full-backs chose their moments to underlap. In midfield, the pivot screened counters and kept the ball moving side to side until the opening appeared. Birmingham’s adjustment — a higher press and quicker passes through the middle — made it a contest again, but that push also left the back post exposed when the legs faded.
For Leicester, this felt significant beyond the three points. Four straight league wins at home build more than a table. They build habits — the patience to wait for your chance, the trust that a late goal will come, and the bench depth to make it happen. The blend was obvious: an experienced defender finishing a move the academy teenager sparked, backed by a winger whose confidence is growing by the week.
Birmingham, despite the loss, walk away with structure to trust. For 75 minutes they kept their distances tight, closed the middle, and forced Leicester to live in the wide channels. The lesson is in the last stretch. When the game tilts, you need legs and concentration to match. The first defeat of a season can clarify things: how to protect the back post, when to foul and reset, and which subs can carry the press without losing shape.
There were individual threads worth noting. Fatawu’s decision-making keeps trending up — not just the goal, but when to pass, when to carry, when to pin his marker. Pereira’s instinct to arrive late at the far stick once defined him as a full-back; it won this game. And Monger? The spark off the bench that managers love: straightforward, brave, and clean with the final ball.
It wasn’t a night for headline numbers — no wild xG swings, no five-alarm saves. It was about control, patience, and a moment of teenage audacity. Leicester stayed calm, made the right moves from the bench, and found the finish. Birmingham competed, organized, and learned the hard bit: at this level, you can play well and still get nothing if you switch off once.
The King Power has its hum back. That matters. When a ground believes in late goals, late goals arrive more often. Leicester are stringing those nights together, and the table tends to follow teams that can grind and then cut. Birmingham will be fine if they keep this defensive platform and add a little more edge in the final third. The margins only get smaller from here.