Leicester edge closer to Champions League despite draw with Southampton
Southampton's James Ward-Prowse scores their side's goal of the game from the penalty spot. Picture: Neil Hall
Southampton 1 Leicester City 1
Leicester City are edging closer to the Champions League despite the frustration of failing to beat 10-man Southampton, now sitting eight points clear of fifth place following a 1-1 draw at St Mary’s.
The result leaves them sitting third in the table with only four games to play, starting with a vital home game against Newcastle next Friday which could leave them on the verge of a top four finish.
If they don’t win that fixture, however, a daunting finale of games against Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham will make them rue this missed opportunity – bringing back memories of the way they blew it in a similar position last season.
The visitors looked big favourites when Southampton’s Jannik Vestergaard was harshly sent off after only 10 minutes, giving the them 80 minutes to seal victory.
But considering Southampton went ahead through a James Ward-Prowse penalty in the second half, Leicester were grateful in the end to take a point through a goal from defender Jonny Evans.
The result is a major boost for the battling Saints, who are now very close to sealing their place in the Premier League after what has been a complicated season; and it will also be welcomed by fifth-placed West Ham and sixth-placed Liverpool who are desperately hoping that Leicester or Chelsea will slip up and allow them to snatch a top-four finish right at the death.
The Foxes were certainly favourites for this game given their recent form and had the luxury of fielding an unchanged team for the third match in a row.
By contrast, mis-firing Southampton were without top scorer Danny Ings with a thigh injury that could keep him out for the remainder of the season and even impact his chances of making England’s Euro 2020 squad.
The odds swayed even further in the visitors’ favour after 10 minutes when rookie referee Robert Jones made a terrible mistake which VAR, astonishingly, failed to overturn.
Southampton defender Vestergaard took a poor touch as he brought the ball out of defence but recovered admirably to stretch out a long leg and tip the ball away from on-rushing Jamie Vardy, who was closing in goal, to nudge hit back towards his goalkeeper.
The follow-through, however, caught Vardy’s heel and Jones issued a red card for denying a goalscoring chance, the tackle coming right on the edge of the area. That was fair enough given the referee’s position, but replays clear showed the ball was cleanly won. So, why VAR failed to overturn the decision was a mystery to everyone who saw it.
Southampton’s response was determined and organised, but you always felt that Leicester would benefit at some point over the next 80 minutes.
James Maddison and Youri Tielemans both had shots saved in the opening half before manager Brendan Rodgers made changes after the break, bringing on Ayoze Perez for defender Wesley Fofana.
What Leicester didn’t expect, however, was for Southampton to go ahead. But that’s exactly what they did do on the hour mark when Kelechi Iheanacho blocked a shot that was sailing over the bar with his hand – and James Ward-Prowse converted the penalty.
Perez came close to equalising, denied by Alex McCarthy, before Jonny Evans headed home from close range – courtesy of an Iheanacho cross - to settle Leicester nerves.
Only a remarkable save by McCarthy from Vardy denied them victory, whilst Ndidi also fired narrowly wide with the goal gaping. It was two points dropped but still one point nearer to their ultimate goal.
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