Schade bulldozes Leicester as Brentford show Van Nistelrooy scale of salvage job | Premier League

No one can blame Ben Dawson for attempting to try something different in his first and only game in charge of Leicester. The interim manager named a very different side at Brentford, in shape and personnel, as the incoming Ruud van Nistelrooy watched from the stands. Unfortunately for him, Kevin Schade’s incredible hat-trick at the Gtech not only inflicted more misery on the visitors, who remain one point above the relegation zone, but proved their problems will require more than a simple formation change.

Brentford almost scored within five minutes after Schade’s looping header was palmed on to the roof of the net by a leaping Mads Hermansen. Leicester were pinned back but Dawson’s decision to name a back three left the box overcrowded and Bryan Mbeumo’s seven crosses in the first half were all met with a blue shirt.

Leicester’s valiant defensive effort was rewarded when Jamie Vardy shrugged off Ethan Pinnock before offloading the ball towards Facundo Buonanotte for a simple tap-in, the Argentinian shushing the home support in celebration.

The jubilation did not last long as the hosts turned it around in just under nine minutes thanks to Yoane Wissa’s first-time finish for the equaliser. Leicester seemingly switched off after that and Mbeumo immediately found himself in space for the second, his ball to an unmarked Schade fired in at the back post.

The gaps became even clearer for the third after Wilfred Ndidi was caught out of position, allowing Mikkel Damsgaard to slip a pass to Schade, with Wout Faes being the only blue shirt to not hold the line. The German’s neat finish bobbled in off the far post.

The second half brought more of the same, with the visitors struggling to maintain any semblance of a defensive shape. So much so that Nathan Collins felt comfortable enough to step out from Brentford’s backline to find Schade, whose run between Faes and James Justin felt like deja vu as he netted his team’s fourth. It is difficult to predict how Van Nistelrooy will fare at Leicester but the large Dutch flag that was quickly hidden in the away end after Schade’s first is an indication that he has his work cut out for him.