Wasteful Leicester were harshly punished by clinical Crystal Palace whose 2-0 win at the King Power Stadium inflicted a sixth straight league defeat on the hosts.
The Foxes racked up their highest shot tally of the season and hit the bar through Boubakary Soumare after half-time, but were far from wily as they wasted chance after chance with Jamie Vardy the biggest culprit.
Leicester appeared buoyed from their 6-2 FA Cup win over QPR at the weekend as they burst out of the traps and dominated the opening period, but Vardy shot straight at Dean Henderson when played in behind by Stephy Mavididi.
It took Palace 51 minutes to muster their first shot on target but it was a ruthlessly clinical move which saw them snatch the lead against the league’s second-leakiest defence, when Ismaila Sarr slid Jean-Philippe Mateta through to round Jakub Stolarczyk.
Chances continued to come and go for Leicester with Soumare inches away from his first goal for the club, before another sucker punch, this time from Marc Guehi, ended their comeback hopes.
The England centre-back has been the subject of a prolonged transfer pursuit by Chelsea but after the Blues recalled Trevoh Chalobah from Palace earlier on Wednesday, he appears likely to remain at Selhurst Park in this window.
Enzo Maresca’s side may have missed out on a seasoned striker with the quality of his finish to seal three points, a powerful rising volley at Stolarczyk’s near post after Eberechi Eze had dinked a free-kick over the home defence.
Those goals moved Palace, now on a six-match unbeaten league streak, above Manchester United into 14th, while Leicester, who were ahead of the Eagles at the start of their winless run, remain two points from safety in 19th.
More to follow…
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Source : Sky Sports
