English Premier League

Leicester City 1 – 2 Southampton

Southampton gained revenge for their 9-0 thrashing by Leicester City in October when in-form Danny Ings scored a late winner to shock the second-placed Foxes at King Power Stadium.

Leicester, seeking a third successive Premier League win, took an early lead when Dennis Praet tapped in his first goal for the club.

But any thoughts of another easy victory for Brendan Rodgers’ side were quickly dispelled when Stuart Armstrong equalised with a deflected shot.

Ings, who has now scored 10 goals in his last 10 league starts, was a thorn in Leicester’s side all afternoon and had already struck the crossbar twice, he slotted through Kasper Schmeichel’s legs late on.

Leicester thought they had salvaged a draw with a 90th-minute equaliser from Jonny Evans but the video assistant referee (VAR) ruled it out for offside.

The victory sees Southampton remain 12th, but move level on points with Everton and Arsenal, while Leicester stays second but 12 points behind Liverpool, who play in the late kick-off.

The victory for Ralph Hassenhuttl’s men represents a remarkable turnaround from the previous result between the sides but it was nothing more than the visitors deserved having dominated in the first half and matched Leicester in the second.

But while the Saints shaded the chances, Leicester did have the ball in the net on another two occasions – through Jamie Vardy and then Kelechi Iheanacho – but both efforts were disallowed for offside by the on-field officials.

Saints were also awarded a penalty in the second half when Caglar Soyuncu bundled Shane Long over in the box but VAR also overturned that decision.

Few could forget the last Premier League match between these two sides – when Leicester ran riot at St Mary’s to claim a record-breaking win.

But since that harrowing night, Hassenhuttl’s side has turned a corner – collecting 20 points from a possible 36.

That total is especially impressive when you take into account it includes wins over Chelsea, Tottenham and now Leicester.

The south coast side is now five games unbeaten in the league and on the evidence of this performance it is easy to see why; they were excellent from the first whistle, with Praet’s opener coming against the run of play.

So when they equalised when Armstrong’s strike found the net, albeit, with a heavy deflection off James Maddison, it was not too much of a surprise.

They could have easily gone into the break ahead too, with Ings twice denied by the crossbar as half-time approached.

Leicester were a sterner test in the second half but Saints more than matched them and they would have had a penalty but for the intervention of VAR.

Ings and Long both worked tirelessly in the attack, with the former deservedly getting on the scoresheet late on, but it was the defensive display which will have pleased Hassenhuttl most.

They limited the usually creative Foxes to just a few chances and when Saints did come under pressure, Alex McCarthy and Jack Stephens stood firm.

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Source – Sport365coza