Leicester picked up their first win of the season when they beat Nottingham Forest to dump their local rivals at the bottom of the Premier League and pile the pressure on manager Steve Cooper.
James Maddison scored twice and created another for substitute Patterson Dika, Harvey Barnes curling home a superb effort as Brendan Rodgers recorded their biggest home win since December.
For Forest, it was a first top-flight East Midlands derby night to forget since 1999.
Cooper never recovered from conceding twice in as many minutes as after striker Taiwo Awoniyi had hit a post through the clean on the home goal.
Forest fans showed their support for Cooper as they chanted defiant chants as the game ended and his side suffered their fifth straight defeat in a season for the first time since January 2004.
However, after celebrating a long-awaited return to the Premier League after a 23-year absence, owner Evangelos Marinakis did not approve the 23-year-old’s summer signing in the belief that Forest were going to go straight down.
Cooper must hope his boss shows him more patience than former Huddersfield manager Carlos Corburn, who was sacked after 11 games at Marinakis’ Greek club Olympiakos earlier this month.
A ‘top’ Night for Leicester
The evening was important enough for Leicester chairman Ayawath Srividhanaprabha to fly in from Thailand to see his family watch their memorable Premier League title-winning team in 2016, but cut costs this summer, which he described as a “difficult short-term decision”.
In his program notes he explained how a positive result could “galvanise” the club but as the game got under way, he had the expression of a man who could be hours away from making a huge decision. .
As it turned out, by half-time the man affectionately known as Khon Top was the most supportive Foxes fans, happy with how the evening was going.
Leicester’s opening goal required a few bits of luck through Jesse Lingard’s mis-control and Scott McKenna’s deflection but the efforts that followed were undoubtedly moments of quality, including Maddison’s cross from Dacca’s flick. scored on 17 minutes from particularly impressive time.
Rodgers certainly enjoyed them as he hugged his coaching staff, the joy of securing such a valuable win evident.
