Antonio Conte may have been back in the technical area but this was an excruciating experience for Tottenham’s head coach.
Conte returned after gallbladder surgery to witness a peak-time ‘Spursy’ performance, complete with diabolical defending and a deepening injury crisis ahead of the Champions League tie against AC Milan.
Rodrigo Bentancur limped off in the second half after sustaining what appeared to be a knee injury, with Hugo Lloris, Yves Bissouma and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg already out of Tuesday’s first leg.
Conte had been advised to take it easy, after missing last weekend’s win over Manchester City, but this must have felt like watching a horror movie.
Leicester were outstanding, picking up their first Premier League win in front of their supporters since October to continue their recent upturn.
James Maddison, Kelechi Iheanacho and Nampalys Mendy produced excellent individual performances and the January window has had a transformative effect on Brendan Rodgers’ squad.
Conte’s problems are piling up, though, and many of the travelling Tottenham supporters were heading down the motorway long before the final whistle.
These encounters between the two clubs are always weirdly absorbing, with 28 goals scored in the last five matches.
It was far from the relaxing, stress-free afternoon Conte had been hoping for after flying back from Turin.
Tottenham did actually start well and had been threatening before taking a 14th-minute lead. Victor Kristiansen, the Leicester defender, had brilliantly cleared an Ivan Perisic corner off the line before seconds later inadvertently gifting the visitors a goal, diverting the ball into the path of Bentancur who could not miss.
Leicester responded with two goals in two minutes to transform the momentum of the match.
The equaliser was a collector’s item, with Mendy registering his first goal since September 2015 with an excellent drive into the top corner after Tottenham failed to clear.
Maddison then put Leicester into the lead from close range after a perfectly-weighted pass from Iheanacho, sliding the ball past Fraser Forster who was in Tottenham’s goal for the injured Lloris.
It was typical Tottenham and Conte had a face like thunder, dipping his hands into his pockets.
Iheanacho remains a total enigma and added a third goal in first-half injury time. There is no disputing his talent, as he coolly slotted the ball into the bottom corner, and the mystery is why he goes through stages of either not playing or looking unplayable.
Tottenham’s hopes then nosedived further with the withdrawal of Bentancur, who was at least able to walk off after initially being offered a stretcher.
Harvey Barnes had a fourth Leicester goal overruled after a Var review, with the winger marginally offside, but there was no disputing his finish 10 minutes from time.
Picking up the ball outside the area from Maddison’s pass, he placed a shot past Forster with precision from 18 yards.
Conte has much to ponder ahead of his return to Milan.
