Justin marks Luton return with debut goal for Leicester

Posted Wednesday, September 25, 2019 by PA

James Justin marked his Luton return with a debut goal for Leicester to help his new club progress into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with a 4-0 win at Kenilworth Road.

The defender, who left the Hatters in the summer after helping them win back-to-back promotions, fired home in the 44th minute and earned the applause of both sets of supporters inside the stadium.

It was a touching moment for the 21-year-old and his display was one of many positives for the Foxes, with Demarai Gray also netting his first of the season before Youri Tielemans and Kelechi Iheanacho wrapped up the victory with two goals in the final 11 minutes.

Safely through! 🔥#LutLei
— Leicester City (@LCFC) September 24, 2019

Brendan Rodgers made seven changes to the team who beat Tottenham 2-1 on Saturday, with James Maddison not part of the squad, but Jamie Vardy was among the substitutes.

Justin made his Foxes debut against his old club, who only retained Luke Bolton from their starting XI which lost 3-0 at home to Hull in the Sky Bet Championship last weekend.

It perhaps gave an indication of where the Carabao Cup lay on the list of priorities for Luton, but for Leicester players like Marc Albrighton, this tie carried great importance.

The 29-year-old winger was making only his second start of the season and eager to take his opportunity, he tested James Shea from 25 yards in the sixth minute.

Justin marks Luton return with debut goal for Leicester — Demarai Gray scored his first goal of the season as Leicester beat Luton (Nick Potts/PA)

Albrighton was prominent in the opening exchanges and sent Tielemans away down the left in the 17th minute, but Ayoze Perez failed to convert his cross and Luton survived.

Leicester took the lead in the 34th minute when Perez dummied Albrighton’s low cross and Gray curled home from eight yards.

Four minutes later it should have been 2-0, but Shea denied Dennis Praet and Perez’s lob was ruled out for offside.

A minute before the break Tielemans spotted the run of the right-back and picked him out with a delightful ball into the box where Justin powerfully fired home.

Slotted 👌#LutLei pic.twitter.com/QnMMhXelBS
— Leicester City (@LCFC) September 24, 2019

The Luton supporters applauded before singing ‘James Justin, he’s one of our own!’

Leicester were halfway to a job well done and almost wrapped up the contest in the 58th minute, but Shea denied the visitors a fine team goal with a smart save from Wes Morgan’s poked effort after a lovely one-two with Wilfred Ndidi.

Chelsea loanee Izzy Brown finally had Luton’s first shot on target with 68 minutes played, although Danny Ward saved his fierce effort to keep Leicester in cruise control.

Tielemans added a third with a fine volley from Gray’s cross with 11 minutes left.

Leicester were not done as substitute Iheanacho made it 4-0 in the 86th minute, lobbing Shea following Albrighton’s through ball to signal the Foxes’ intent in this competition.