There was no trace of a New Year’s Eve hangover for Enzo Maresca’s rampant Leicester side as they cruised past bottom-half strugglers Huddersfield.
After a blockbuster December, the Foxes extended their unbeaten run to 10 games – a record unmatched since their 2015-16 Premier League-topping season.
Leicester now sit 10 points clear at the top of the Championship, and hopes of smashing the league’s record points tally of 106 grow stronger after goals from Ricardo Pereira, Stephy Mavididi, and full debutant Tom Cannon capped a confident showing.
‘Every game there are many things that we can do better,’ Maresca said.
Tom Cannon scored twice on his full debut to help Leicester move 10 points clear of Ipswich
Ricardo Pereira was also on the scoresheet as Enzo Maresca’s men went a tenth game unbeaten
‘After the 3-0, it is normal mentally to drop a little bit, but in the Championship, in the Premier League, you are in England – this is a country that when you drop a little bit, they punish you.’
It was Leicester who did most of the punishing on a drab Monday afternoon which saw both sides make a frayed start in light of a packed schedule.
But after Cannon drew first blood with a nerveless strike in the 39th minute, ably assisted by Ricardo, the latter wasted no time after the break to double the host’s lead with a bulleted header that outsmarted Lee Nicholls.
Cannon was praised by his manager for following the directive to ‘just go’ rather than let the prospect of stepping into the starting line-up hinder him.
‘If you’re here, we think you’re good enough,’ Maresca said of Cannon, who has been sidelined by injury since joining from Everton over the summer.
‘You don’t have to show anything, just go, and enjoy.’
Stephy Mavididi quelled any hope of a Terriers comeback with a sweetly struck free-kick
Huddersfield were left crestfallen ater slumping to an 11th consecutive New Year’s Day defeat
The 21-year-old nabbed his brace just past the hour mark only for a lapse in concentration to allow Michal Helik to reduce Huddersfield’s deficit from a poorly-defended corner.
But his effort was too little, too late after Stephy Mavididi’s sweetly-struck free-kick in the 77th minute poured cold water on hopes of a fightback.
‘I’ve got nothing but credit for them,’ manager Darren Moore said of his injury-ravaged side, who will face Manchester City in the FA Cup on Saturday.
‘They’ve come in and set their stall out, but we were just beaten by the better team. Sometimes you’ve just got to hold your hands up.’
