LEICESTER, England: Leicester City’s James Maddison scored twice in the first half as they beat Nottingham Forest 4-0 on Monday to move from bottom of the table with their first Premier League win of the season.
The home win in the East Midlands derby took some of the pressure off Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers and reinforced Steve Cooper of Forest, whose promoted team is now bottom after a fifth straight defeat.
The Foxes, who had one point from their first seven games and were the only team without a win in the top flight, passed Forest on goal difference.
The visitors could have taken the lead against the flow of play in the 22nd minute when a Taiwo Awoniyi shot rebounded off the post, but Leicester were 2-0 up while King Power’s crowd roared five minutes later.
Maddison broke the ice with the first goal in the 25th minute, his shot from just outside the box being deflected off the arm of Forest defender Scott McKenna and Harvey Barnes doubling the lead two minutes later.
Forest goalkeeper Dean Henderson’s nightmare night continued as Maddison bagged his second with a perfectly flying free-kick in the 35th minute that went over the wall and hit the inside of the post as he went in.
Substitute Patson Daka, who came on for former England striker Jamie Vardy in the 62nd, completed the goal in the 73rd with a stunning backheel from a Maddison cross.
The win, watched by the club’s Thai chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, was Leicester’s first conceded in the league this season.
“It’s been too long to be honest,” Rodgers said. “We should have won earlier and we had some tough games. But I thought we were excellent tonight with the intensity of the game and our pressing.”
“It’s a great night for the players and a great night for the fans. I said before that if we can get a result here and move on it’s a season-changing game.”
The manager said he used video of Leicester’s 4-1 defeat by Forest in the FA Cup fourth round last February as motivation for his players ahead of the game and Maddison said it was a tidbit.
“Tonight was the perfect game for us, everything felt right; the build-up, the preparation this week, the trainer’s team talk beforehand. It just felt right and it was a great night for the club,” he told Sky Sport.
Cooper refused to criticize a team of recently signed players who are yet to gel but said Forest gave Leicester too much space and squandered the chances they had.
“I don’t think about my job,” he added. “I’m doing my job. The concern in my head is not my personal situation, Nottingham Forest have lost another football game.”