Facundo Buonanotte grabbed his first goal at the King Power Stadium as Leicester City beat Bournemouth 1-0 on Saturday afternoon to secure their first Premier League win of the campaign.
Having clinched the Championship title to confirm their return to the Premier League, Steve Cooper's were one of five sides yet to taste victory in the league, losing three and picking up three draws from their opening six matches.
Leicester entered the weekend off the back of a heart-wrenching 4-2 defeat against Arsenal on September 28, when, with a heroic display from goalkeeper Mads Hermansen, they fought back from two goals down to level the tie before conceding two jammy goals in stoppage time.
Bournemouth, on the other hand, picked up their first home win of the Premier League campaign last time out as they eased past Southampton 3-1 thanks to first-half goals from Evanilson, Dango Ouattara and Antoine Semeyo.
With the Cherries going inches close to opening the scoring in the sixth minute, when Stefano Senesi drove his header narrowly wide of the post, a brilliant individual display from Buonanotte put Leicester in front 10 minutes later, with the 19-year-old firing last Kepa Arrizabalaga after a brilliant skill to beat his marker.
While the Foxes were slightly dominant in the first half, seeing 54% of the ball possession, there was really not much going for them in front of goal after Buonanotte's strike as they went into the break with an xG of 0.5, just above the visitors' 0.42.
Bournemouth upped in the second half as they went out in search of a way back into the tie, with Illia Zabarnyi's 50th-minute header crashing into the post before Steve Cook's free-kick goal was ruled out for offside after Evanilson was judged to have been interfering with play.
Andoni Iraola's men were denied by the crossbar once again when Ouattara failed to steer his header on target after rising highest to connect with Luis Sinisterra's cross in the 72nd minute before Leicester held on in the final quarter of an hour to see out their first league win of the campaign.
LEICESTER CITY VS. BOURNEMOUTH HIGHLIGHTS/h2>Facundo Buonanotte goal vs. Bournemouth (16th min, Leicester City 1-0 Bournemouth)
A fine combination play between James Justin and Buonanotte on the right flank saw Justin set the latter free to run into the Bournemouth box, where he evaded Senesi with dazzling footwork before smashing home his first goal at the Kings Power Stadium.
MAN OF THE MATCH - FACUNDO BUONANOTTE
It was a solid afternoon for the Brighton loanee, who finally opened his account at the King Power Stadium in the 16th minute to inspire Leicester to their first Premier League of the campaign.
Along with his goal, Buonanotte completed 100% of his dribbling attempts and created a glorious chance for Jaime Vardy in the first half, while winning seven of his 13 ground duels in a solid shift.
LEICESTER CITY VS. BOURNEMOUTH MATCH STATS
Possession: Leicester City 44%-56% Bournemouth
Shots: Leicester City 6-17 Bournemouth
Shots on target: Leicester City 2-2 Bournemouth
Corners: Leicester City 0-9 Bournemouth
Fouls: Leicester City 12-14 Bournemouth
BEST STATS
WHAT NEXT?
Leicester City relieve the pressure on head coach Cooper as they grab their first league wins since returning to the top flight to move from the bottom three and into 15th-place in the table.
As for Bournemouth, they will be scratching their heads as to how they have not come away with at least a point from the King Power Stadium, particularly after their second-half display.
The Cherries have now lost three of their most recent four league outings — conceding five goals and falling to find the back of the net across the three games — with a 3-1 home win over Southampton on September 30 being the exception.
Leicester will look to build on this result when they visit the St. Mary's Stadium to face Southampton after the international break on October 19 while Iraola's men face the stern challenge of taking on high-flying Arsenal next. body check tags ::
