Leeds United 1-1 Leicester City: Super-sub Jamie Vardy rescues precious point for Foxes in Premier League

Super-sub Jamie Vardy came off the bench to rescue Leicester City as they came from behind to draw 1-1 with Leeds in a huge game in the Premier League relegation battle.

The former England striker netted deep into the second half to earn Dean Smith’s side a well deserved point, after Luis Sinisterra had earlier handed the hosts the lead.

A tight first-half saw the visitors dominate possession, although both sides struggled with their final ball and as such failed to create too many clear openings.

Despite that, the Foxes thought they had taken the lead when Youri Tielemans found the top corner in stunning fashion from 20-yards, only for VAR to disallow the goal for an offside earlier in the move.

Shortly afterwards, they found themselves chasing the game as Sinisterra broke the deadlock by heading home Jack Harrison’s terrific cross.

Chances continued to be few and far between after the break, with some resolute Leeds defending preventing their opponents from getting too far forward. The visitors threw men forward as the game wore on though, and Kelechi Iheanacho was twice thwarted by Illan Meslier.

They were beginning to crank the pressure up though, and got the goal their performance deserved with 10 minutes left when Vardy converted into the bottom corner.

The striker had another ruled out for offside shortly afterwards, as Leicester moved one point clear of the relegation zone.

TALKING POINT – Like a fine wine

You have to go back to October for the last time Jamie Vardy scored in the Premier League, with the striker playing 19 times in the top flight since netting against Wolves.

In the intervening period, plenty have written off the former England international, suggesting his time at the top level might be over.

However, he showed he’s still as sharp as ever when brilliantly firing into the bottom corner to equalise late on, and will surely be crucial if Leicester are to avoid the drop.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH

Liam Cooper (Leeds). The Leeds defence has received plenty of attention of late after conceding 13 goals in their last two games, but they were near faultless tonight.

Pivotal to that was their skipper, who marshalled the back-four superbly, ensuring they carried out a game plan of swarming the Leicester attack perfectly.

He was far from at fault when the Foxes did equalise, and can count himself unlucky not to have guided his team to three vital points.

PLAYER RATINGS

LEEDS: Meslier 7; Ayling 6, Koch 7, Cooper 8, Firpo 7; Harrison 6, McKennie 7, Roca 6, Sinisterra 7; Rodrigo 6, Bamford 5. Subs: Summerville 6, Aaronson 6

LEICESTER: Iversen 7; Castagne 7, Faes 6, Soyuncu 7, Kristiansen 6; Tielemans 5, Soumare 6; Tete 5, Maddison 7, Barnes 6; Iheanacho 7. Subs: Vardy 8, Daka 7, Praet n/a

KEY MOMENTS

8’ GOAL RULED OUT. Wow. That was some strike from Tielemans, smashing into the top corner from 20-yards, but Boubakary Soumare was offside earlier in the move and it gets ruled out by VAR

20’ GOAL! LEEDS 1-0 LEICESTER (Sinisterra). Leeds break the deadlock with their first shot of the game! A stunning cross to the back post by Jack Harrison, finding Luis Sinisterra, who heads home from a tight angle. Lift off at Elland Road

73’ STUNNING MESLIER SAVE. What a stop that is! He keeps out Iheanacho’s long range effort, before saving the Dake follow-up, which wouldn’t have counted anyway as he was offside. But Meslier didn’t know that. Sublime double stop

80’ GOAL! LEEDS 1-1 LEICESTER (Jamie Vardy). The drought is over! Jamie Vardy levels with a huge goal after a scintillating Leicester attack. Fed by Maddison, the striker fires into the far bottom corner.

83’ GOAL RULED OUT. Brilliant Leicester move again, but Vardy is flagged offside as he converts from Daka’s pass

89’ WHAT. A. SAVE. Roca meets a corner with a fierce header but Iversen gets in the way with an amazing stop

90’ BAMFORD MISSES A SITTER. Oh my word. That was as simple as possible. A flicked header from the corner picks out the striker at the back post. He’s unmarked and somehow fires wide

KEY STATS

• Leeds extend their poor run in head-to-heads against the Foxes to just one win in their last ten meetings
• Leicester have now gone 18 games without keeping a Premier League clean sheet