8 December 2024
Leicester 2 Brighton 2
Ruud van Nistelrooy took charge of his second game as Leicester manager. The first resulted in victory but he knew there was plenty of work to be done. With The Seagulls travelling to the King Power Stadium, this was to prove another stern test. The visitors had made a brilliant start to the season and were pushing for European places.
Brighton came into the game brimming with confidence. Lamptey got down the right flank and put in a superb cross into the back post. He found Joao Pedro but he sliced his shot wide of the target. The Foxes would need to be a lot more switched on in defence if they were to get anything from this game, he was completely unmarked at the back post.
Mitoma then teased the defence before laying it into the path of Estupinian. His first-time shot was heading into the top corner of the goal before a full-stretch Hermansen made a brilliant save to tip it around the post for a corner. The amount of times he has kept his side in games this season is insane, he has shown he is more than at home at this level.
Leicester tried to play out from the back and got themselves in trouble. Ferguson ran towards goal but laid it off to Mitoma. He went for the top corner but skied it over the target. Moments later Lamptey cut inside from the wing and curled a shot into the top corner from outside the box with his left foot. The keeper had no chance of getting anywhere near it.
The hosts barely laid a glove on Brighton until the 44th minute of the first-half. Justin won a header in the box but Verbruggen clawed the ball out of the goal. It was one of those saves that you would put in the category ‘for the cameras’ but the effort was heading into the far corner regardless. As a result, the visitors headed in at the break with a slender lead.
It was a scrappy game after the restart and neither side could find the composure to take control of the game. It wasn’t until an hour was gone in the game that The Foxes had the visitors worried. Mavididi put in a cross into the back post that found Vardy. His header nestled on the top of the net and to be fair to the striker, it was a tight angle to score from.
Brighton had been in control for the whole game. It was more about Leicester trying to keep them out than anything else. You started to wonder if they didn’t put this game to bed, they could pay the price for it. This is where Leicester are struggling to find their feet at this level, they have too many players who do not look of Premier League quality.
None of that mattered while the visitors’ lead was a single goal, they were still in this game. If anything, Brighton could be accused of overplaying it at times. Trying to walk the ball into the net and making their attacks over-complicated. There seemed to be a gulf between these two teams but The Seagulls were not able to impose themselves enough in front of goal.
With just over ten minutes remaining, the ball was clipped forward to Minteh in space. He twisted and turned in the box, baffling the Leicester defence. Eventually he got his shot off into the far corner, Hermansen was well beaten. Everyone in the ground thought the game was done, Hurzeler’s team had secured the three points at the King Power Stadium.
Van Nistelrooy made some late changes to try and mix things up for his side. De Cordova-Reid proved to be a shrewd addition. He tried to shoot from outside the box but it took a huge deflection and looped up towards the back post where Vardy was lurking. He struck a first-time shot into the far corner to give his side a glimmer of hope.
With just four minutes of normal time remaining, The Foxes’ fans started to believe they could get something from this game. If the visitors were to throw away this win, Fabian Hurzeler would have some questions to ask in the changing rooms after the game. Their focus now was to hold onto what they had and head home with all the points.
Suddenly Brighton looked nervy as five minutes of added time was announced. In a game they had bossed, they now looked like a rabbit in a car headlights. Mavididi clipped a cross into the box and Vardy unselfishly squared it to his teammate. De Cordova-Reid slotted him to send the King Power Stadium wild. What a comeback.
This epitomised everything the Premier League is all about. It does not matter if you get battered by a team for the majority of the game, if they don’t take their chances, you can hurt them. Leicester seemed the more likely to grab a winner but The Seagulls managed to hold on for a point. This is the sort of grit and determination van Nistelrooy will need from his players this season.
Quality and ability means a lot at this level, but so does character. Coming back from two goals down, The Foxes showed that they do not plan to go back down without a huge fight. They are now five points clear of the bottom three while Brighton sit in seventh place. Fabian Hurzeler will definitely see this as two points dropped however.
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