Credit: Imago

Evan Lloyd

Sat 31 January 2026 14:37, UK

Leicester City have been plunged into further trouble after losing 2-0 to Charlton Athletic on Saturday.

Andy King took charge of Leicester, after Marti Cifuentes was dismissed at the King Power Stadium last week.

Vitor Pereira is among the favourites to replace Cifuentes, but King‘s focus was firmly on the visit of the Addicks.

They got off to the worst possible start, however, when Caleb Okoli pulled down the goal-bound Miles Leaburn and was shown a straight red card in just the 15th minute.

Charlton signed Harry Clarke just days ago, and the defender looked to have put his new side ahead when he turned in from a corner just five minutes later, but the goal was disallowed for an apparent foul.

The visitors did have the lead after 36 minutes, however, with Sonny Carey finishing brilliantly after he was found by Clarke.

And just before the break, Liverpool loanee Luke Chambers found Lyndon Dykes with a stunning cross, which the Scotland international gratefully converted.

Leicester were given a lifeline after the break when Abdul Fatawu was fouled inside the penalty box, but Jordan Ayew saw his penalty hit the post and bounce out of play.

Abdul Fatawu is the shining light

As is so often the case, the talented Fatawu was one of very few bright spots against Charlton on Saturday.

Despite the odds stacked against Leicester, the winger never stopped attempting to run at his full-back.

A stunning bit of skill saw him win the penalty, playing the ball through the legs of Amari’i Bell before he was dragged down by the defender.

Fatawu took three shots, completed two dribbles, was fouled twice and won five duels on the day, and can hold his head up high, when many Foxes cannot.

Caleb Okoli lets Leicester City down

As if Leicester were not already up against it without a permanent manager, their task on Saturday was made endlessly more difficult by pure stupidity.

Okoli was beaten by the bounce of the ball, and let Leaburn past him. That, by itself, was poor, yet his goalkeeper may have saved the one versus one, or the striker could have even fluffed his lines.

Worst case scenario, Leicester had gone behind and would have 75 minutes to turn the game around.

Instead, Okoli, unbelievably, decided to grab hold of Leaburn and pull him back, leaving referee Andrew Kitchen no choice but to produce a red card.

Forced into an uphill battle from the get-go, Leicester were unable to cope with the gaping hole in their defence, and were left helpless by their centre-back’s actions.

Leicester player ratings vs Charlton

• Jakub Stolarczyk – 5
• Ricardo Pereira – 7
• Caleb Okoli – 1
• Ben Nelson – 5
• Luke Thomas – 7
• Louis Page – 5
• Hamza Choudhury – 4
• Abdul Fatawu – 8
• Bobby Reid – 4
• Stephy Mavididi – 6
• Jordan Ayew – 2

Substitutes

• Olabade Aluko – 7
• Harry Winks – 4
• Jeremy Monga – 5
• Patson Daka – 4