Leicester City’s outstanding counter-attacking first goal against West Ham featured three PFA player of the year nominees linking, with Riyad Mahrez poking a pass through to N’Golo Kanté, who fed the goalscorer Jamie Vardy. But there was also a crucial, unseen contribution from another impressive performer: Shinji Okazaki.
As Mahrez received the ball on the right, Okazaki glanced around to see Kanté storming forward and Vardy sprinting into the left-hand channel, so he made a clever decoy run towards the right, taking Mark Noble away from the defensive midfield zone, opening up space for Kanté to burst into, and helping to create the goal. It was textbook Okazaki: tactically intelligent, on the move, playing a supporting role.
This was not, in conventional terms, an impressive individual forward performance. Okazaki had no shots, did not dribble past any opponents and recorded a pass completion rate of under 50%. But Okazaki excels in the small, subtle details, and his style is perfect for Leicester’s game plan. If the Foxes are a relatively limited attacking side, depending upon counterattacking and set pieces for goals, it helps to have a forward that creates opportunities in both respects.
Okazaki does not get on the end of free-kicks frequently – but he wins them. In the opening stages he poked the ball away from Angelo Ogbonna to win a foul near the corner flag, which nearly resulted in a goal when Robert Huth headed Mahrez’s free-kick wide from point-blank range. Later, West Ham’s other centre-back Winston Reid was cautioned for a poor challenge on Okazaki, who put his body in the line of fire to draw contact – not as simple as it looks, as Vardy would later find to his cost.
Okazaki continued to make a succession of intelligent runs, too. The closest Leicester came to going 2-0 ahead came from another sudden burst, this time into the left channel, to receive a Danny Drinkwater pass. Perhaps caught in two minds, Okazaki’s final ball was more cross than shot, narrowly evading Vardy at the far post. Having created so many chances with his intelligent off-the-ball work, this would have been his first league assist of the season.
It was surprising Claudio Ranieri decided to sacrifice Okazaki immediately after Vardy’s dismissal, introducing the taller, less mobile Leonardo Ulloa. Ranieri presumably wanted someone to hold up the ball, and help defend set pieces, but Leicester badly missed Okazaki’s energy: someone who could chase hopeful long passes and help to relieve the pressure. Leicester are happy sitting deep and allowing the opposition possession, but they probably dropped back too much, invited too much pressure, and eventually conceded twice. Ulloa, at least, had the composure to convert the stoppage-time equaliser from the spot.
With Vardy suspended against Swansea City, Ulloa will be required once again – but it is Okazaki who will lead the fight. Many of his team-mates have enjoyed better campaigns overall, but the Japan forward typifies Leicester’s fight, selflessness and tactical intelligence.