Leicester 4-0 Nottingham Forest: Maddison puts pressure on Steve Cooper

Brendan Rodgers breathed a sigh of relief and put the pressure on Steve Cooper as Leicester ended their winless start to the season at the eighth attempt with a fine 4-0 victory over Nottingham Forest.

>

In a meeting of two managers under pressure and their struggling teams, Rodgers celebrated full time after Leicester struck three in 10 minutes in the first half - two from the excellent James Maddison of either side of Harvey Barnes' curling strike.< /p>

Maddison then came on as a provider in the second half, replacing Patson Daka for the final blow.

It was enough to lift Leicester off the table at the expense of their East Midlands rivals, a much needed success for Rodgers as Leicester chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha flew out to watch his first game in person in six weeks.< /p>

Cooper's prospects are much less certain after a fifth straight league defeat - Forest's worst run since January 2004.

It has been a year and 12 days since Cooper took the job, performing miracles as he lifted Forest from the Championship relegation zone into the Premier League for the first time in 23 years.

But after signing 22 players in a huge overhaul this summer, it's unclear if Cooper knows his best XI, or if Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis will give him time to pull through.< /p>

There was little idea of ​​the perilous position the two clubs found themselves in before kick-off as fans filled the King Power Stadium with noise, the only pleas for Rodgers to go being heard by the Forest fans in the corner of the pitch.

Jamie Vardy, back in Leicester's starting lineup, missed an early shot wide before Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall miraculously missed the target with a free header in front of goal.

F365 says: Lingard the harbinger of Steve Cooper's sacking and/or Nottingham Forest's relegation

Vardy then broke clear of the Forest defense to head away from Maddison's free-kick before shooting straight at Dean Henderson after being played by a midfielder in the mood to claim his position in England.< /p>

Forest couldn't get hold of the ball, his pressure coming from a succession of early set pieces, but they created a superb chance in the 22nd minute when Morgan Gibbs-White played Taiwo Awoniyi, who passed Wout Faes but saw his shot bounce off the post.

It was a letting go for Leicester, and they soon took full advantage of it.

Jesse Lingard missed a clearance straight to Maddison, whose shot was deflected by Scott McKenna to beat Henderson in the 25th minute.

Two minutes later it was 2-0 as Barnes cut down the left and deflected a shot past the goalkeeper.

Forest was imploding, and Leicester were happy to pile it on. After Cheikhou Kouyate was cautioned for knocking Dewsbury-Hall to the edge of the D, Maddison added to the punishment by curling a free kick past the immobile Henderson.

Serge Aurier made his Forest debut at the break, one of three changes as Cooper also sent Remo Freuler and Ryan Yates.

Six minutes into the restart, Awoniyi looked offside as he ran for goal, but Danny Ward reportedly gained confidence from the save he made.

Instead, it was Leicester who carried on. Barnes fired a shot that deflected off the arm of Steve Cook, who looked relieved when only a corner was awarded.

The fourth came in the 73rd minute as Maddison added an assist to both of his goals, crossing for Daka to beat Henderson with a neat shot to the near post.

At the other end, Ward saved well from Brennan Johnson at the near post and then from Gibbs-White's header to preserve Leicester's first clean sheet of the season on a fine night for the Foxes and a disaster for Forest.