Leicester City brought Birmingham City's unbeaten start to the Championship season to an end with a 2-0 victory at the King Power Stadium, settled by an early blast from Abdul Fatawu and a late clincher from Ricardo Pereira. The Foxes were ahead inside eight minutes and, despite long spells of endeavour from the visitors, held their nerve before a teenager from the bench, 16-year-old Jeremy Monga, produced the pass that finally killed the contest.
Birmingham arrived with seven points from nine on their return to the second tier and refused to go quietly, forcing Leicester to grind out what Marti Cifuentes described as a hard-earned win. Kyogo Furuhashi volleyed over in a good position after the break and Ethan Laird was denied by a superb late save from Jakub Stolarczyk, but the Blues lacked cutting edge at key moments and were left aggrieved by the decision to book, rather than dismiss, Pereira before he scored the decisive second goal.
Foxes Strike Early as Birmingham Are Caught Cold
Leicester wasted no time seizing the initiative. With only eight minutes gone, hesitation at the back from Ethan Laird and Paik Seung-ho deep in Birmingham territory allowed the hosts to pounce. The loose ball broke to teenager Louis Page, who showed quick awareness to slide a pass into Abdul Fatawu. The Ghana international casually shifted the ball onto his left foot, cut inside, and rifled a powerful strike high into the top corner beyond Ryan Allsop's reach.