Wout Faes struck late as Leicester City marked their Championship return with a win over 10-man Sheffield Wednesday to deepen the gloom at the crisis-hit club.
Faes headed in with three minutes left after Jannik Vestergaard cancelled out Nathaniel Chalobah’s first-half opener.
It gave new Leicester boss Marti Cifuentes a winning start, while opposite number Henrik Pedersen tasted defeat, 10 days after taking the Owls hotseat.
Pedersen had a senior squad of just 15 players to choose from, but the visitors started positively and Chalobah had an early shot tipped onto the post at full stretch by Foxes goalkeeper Jakob Stolarczyk.
And Chalobah had better luck after 26 minutes when he raced on to Jan Valery’s cross and thumped in a shot which took a hefty deflection off Leicester midfielder Oliver Skipp past Stolarczyk.
The hosts struggled to turn their glut of first-half possession into chances, but Jannik Vestergaard should have levelled when he glanced a header wide from six yards.
Amends were made nine minutes into the second half as Bilal El Khannouss’ low free-kick into the box found the Danish centre-half who took a touch before lifting the ball over 20-year-old goalkeeper Pierce Charles.
A curtailed pre-season and high temperatures at the King Power Stadium caught up with Wednesday who wilted after the break.
Stephy Mavadidi smashed a shot straight at Charles after a slaloming run into the six-yard box, while Luke Thomas fired over from close range.
Wednesday’s thin squad will have to make do without skipper Barry Bannan next weekend after a sliding two-footed challenge on the influentiual Harry Winks earned him a second yellow card in the space of four minutes.
Charles, making just his ninth league appearance, looked to have earned a draw with a superb diving save from Patson Daka’s point-blank header, but a minute later Faes found space to head in an El Khannouss’ corner from close range and finally break Wednesday’s spirit.
What were the main talking points?
While a rumoured Owls player strike over delayed wages did not happen, their travelling fans did go through with their protest against Thai owner Dejphon Chansiri.
It meant the away end was virtually empty for the opening five minutes.
Wednesday’s turbulent close season has been the stuff of nightmares, with about half their senior players leaving, no incomings because of an English Football League (EFL) registration embargo, and former boss Danny Rohl walking out just 12 days before the new season.
The threadbare nature of Wednesday’s squad was exposed when Chalobah limped off with a suspected hamstring injury moments after scoring to be replaced by Sean Fusire for his Owls league debut, one of six academy players on the bench.
A terrific show of defiance, particularly in the first half, demonstrated there is plenty of spirit in the Wednesday camp – and among their vociferous fans – but in a 46-game marathon it is unlikely to be enough unless Chansiri sells the club.
Leicester’s future seems rosy by comparison, but is not without its own concerns following relegation, as a potential points deduction still hangs over them for an alleged breach of profit and sustainability rules (PSR).
Wholesale boos at the half-time whistle turned to jubilation as the Foxes fought back, but the fans may take more convincing as much bigger tests lie in wait than an under-strength and under-cooked Wednesday.
Who stood out?
As the Foxes began life without club legend Jamie Vardy, eyes were trained on Jordan Ayew who took the number nine shirt after the former England striker’s release.
The former Crystal Palace forward was starved of supply for much of the game, but showed his quality with a lung-busting run down the right flank and cross which teed up Daka for what was so nearly a brilliant second goal.
He also forced a couple of late stops from Northern Ireland international Charles who alone deserved a point with an immense game of 11 saves.
But in the end it was good old-fashioned set-pieces and goals from two experienced centre-halves which won the day.
Barry Bannan won the hearts of Owls supporters for signing a new contract amid all the chaos, but he will be rueing his 76th-minute dismissal when the team needed him.
What they said
Leicester City boss Marti Cifuentes told BBC Radio Leicester:
“Always with the first game of the season there’s a lot of emotion, there is a lot of tension and it’s not easy to have a perfect performance.
So credit to the players and the fans that we stick together and we manage to turn around a difficult start.
“It creates good self-confidence but the reality of football is that we need to keep improving, keep pushing because we need to get better as a team.
“Today there is a lot of positives and a lot of things as well that we want to get better at, but what I really highlight from today’s performance is probably the mental capacity to keep pushing and believe in what we do.”
Sheffield Wednesday manager Henrik Pedersen told BBC Radio Sheffield:
“To play the first game away with the situation from the last weeks, and then to bring a performance like this, I am really proud of the boys.
“It’s a tough, tough place to play and after Barry’s second yellow card it was difficult.
“To be a really good team in the Championship, you need to be good in difficult phases and to keep up your discipline when things are difficult, and today the boys showed that in the best way. This basic culture was really, really good.
“One thing is to work, the other thing is to work with a strategy, and how they played the tactical game plan today was really good. This intensity, together with this discipline, big respect to the boys.”
What’s next?
Both sides face League One opponents in the first round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
Leicester head to Bolton Wanderers, while the Owls travel to early-season pacesetters Huddersfield Town. The ties kick off at 19:45 BST.
In the Championship, the Foxes visit Preston on Saturday and Sheffield Wednesday host Stoke (both at 15:00).